Phenomenon
by CommodoreZelda13
Summary: Lloyd meets up with a strange swordsman in the Triet Base, Yuan is blackmailed into joining the Journey of Regeneration, and strange phenomena are occurring throughout the world... WARNING: Spoilers, and there will be CharacterxOC pairings later on.
1. In Unfamiliar Territory

**Ah, my first multi-chapter story! It feels good.**

**The only thing I really have to say is, I own nothing, except for a few new characters that shall be appearing throughout the story…**

…

At first, all that registered was that his head hurt. Bad.

Next was cold. The air around him was freezing. He could feel metal beneath him, even colder than the air.

As Lloyd slowly gained consciousness, he became aware of a few low voices not too far away. He tried to listen in, but the throbbing in his skull wasn't letting him concentrate. Something about Lord something, and a kid in red… He lost track of the conversation as a dull ache settled into his limbs. _Where am I?_ He focused again on the voices, caught his name, then—wait, execution? They were going to _execute_him? What the hell?

"Shut up!" The voice was louder than before. Lloyd cringed as he felt something collide with his stomach, okay, so they were throwing things at him… Oh, maybe he had said that last part out loud…

Lloyd opened his eyes and pushed himself off the floor as the voices quieted again. He was in a metal cell, bars and all. Looking down the hallway outside, he saw two Desians pacing, keeping guard. Or at least keeping up appearances, because it looked like they were talking more than anything else.

"Hey," a voice called. Lloyd couldn't see who was talking, but it sounded like it was coming from next to him, another cell? "Yeah, you assholes out there! Mind getting me something to eat? I've kinda been freaking locked in here for a while, wouldn't kill you to make sure your prisoners don't die, would it?" Yeah, they're definitely in a cell, Lloyd concluded.

"Will you just can it?" a Desian yelled.

"What's that one even doing here?" muttered the other.

His companion shrugged. "Don't know, don't care."

"I'm gonna go ask Lord Botta about it, I'm not sure what we're supposed to be doing with him."

"You do that." He shrugged again before leaning against the wall. "I can handle this on my own for a few minutes."

Lloyd's stomach suddenly growled at him, and food didn't sound like a bad idea… He absently looked around for his packs. Not finding them, a sinking feeling filled his chest. He patted his shirt down, checked the pockets of his pants. Shit, they had taken his supplies! His swords were gone too, unhooked from his belts.

"Stu, what the hell did you _do_?" A new Desian sprinted up the hallway. "Man, Lord Botta is _pissed!_ He wants to see you right away!"

"Oh crap, he found out? I'm dead, I'm dead, I am so freaking dead!" The Desian—Stu—glanced around nervously. "Roy, can't you tell him you couldn't find me or something?"

"No way, because if he can't find you and get this thing taken care of, then somehow Lord Old-and-Crabby's gonna find out, and trust me, whatever you've got coming now is nothing compared to _his_wrath!"

"Ugh, I guess I gotta go then… Ash should be back in a minute, can you watch the prisoners 'til then?"

"Yeah, sure." Stu ran off in the direction Roy had come, while the latter took his friend's place by the wall.

Well, that whole weird exchange didn't really help Lloyd much. He searched his pockets again, double-checking for anything that could help him out. Suddenly, an idea struck. He held his hand up, looked at the ring on his finger, and chuckled…

Moments later, a badly singed Desian was running down the hallway for help, and Lloyd was realizing that having the guard gone didn't really help him out of the cell.

"Hey, there's a keypad on the wall between us," the smooth voice called from the next cell. "I can't reach it, can you try?"

"Uh, yeah, sure," Lloyd hesitantly replied. He reached his arm between the bars as far he could, feeling his fingers just brush a bit of raised metal. Grunting, he stretched a little farther. _Come on, just a little more…_ His fingers found a button, and he pushed it in, pulling his arm out just in time as the bars retracted into the ceiling.

Stepping out into the hall, he turned to the cell adjoining his. Inside stood a man, maybe in his twenties, with white-blond hair. Bright red eyes met Lloyd's own russet gaze. "Mind getting me out too?"

Lloyd hit another button on the keypad, and once again the bars slid upwards. "Thanks, kid," he said as he followed Lloyd into the hallway. "Who are you, anyway? The way they were talking about you, you sounded pretty important."

Lloyd's eyes narrowed. "Give me your name, and I'll give you mine." While this guy had helped him out, he knew nothing about him, and in a place like this, survival instincts won out.

The man just laughed. "Egotistical. Not surprising in a kid your age." _Ego-what now?_He held out his hand. "Skah Labraid. And you?"

"Lloyd Irving." They shook hands, Lloyd glad that his exsphere was on his left instead of his right. "So, do you know where they put my stuff? They took it while I was unconscious..."

"Not a clue."

"Damn." Lloyd surveyed the area. "Well, we're not getting out of here 'til I find my swords, so… let's try this way." He strode down the hallway, hearing Skah chuckle, followed by his footsteps as he trailed the young swordsman.

After finding a few dead ends and checking a few empty rooms, the pair finally lucked out, finding their things stashed in what looked like a storage area. A badly organized storage area.

"Okay, here's my swords, but where'd they put my packs?" Lloyd frantically searched through piles of junk thrown haphazardly in a corner.

"This what you're looking for?" He turned to see Skah hefting his leather bags.

"Yes!" Lloyd snatched the bags from Skah's hands, digging in them until he pulled out some strips of jerky from a pocket. Happily chewing, he watched as Skah continued to root through the debris filling the space. The man smiled as he picked up a huge sword from the mess, attaching it to the leather belt that hung over his blue sleeveless trench coat.

"Woah, how can you even lift that thing? It's gigantic!"

"Practice," the older swordsman replied as he glanced around the room. "Here we go, those look useful." He hefted a case of gels and other supplies from its half-buried position and began sifting through it.

"You're just gonna take that stuff?"

"Why not? If it's gonna help us get out, then I think it's fair game. You expect me to leave it sitting here for the Desians to use?"

"I guess when you put it that way…" Still, Lloyd didn't take any of the offered provisions. It just didn't feel right. Besides, from what he had seen, these Desians didn't seem too bad, besides kidnapping him. They didn't act at all like the ones from Iselia, now that he thought about it.

"Come on, we're never gonna get out if we don't start moving." Lloyd jumped a little, shook the strange thoughts out of his head, and followed the tall blond back into the hallway.

"Do you know where we're going?"

"I think the entrance is this way," Skah replied as the younger man struggled to keep pace.

Lloyd opened his mouth to ask how he knew when a door in front of them slid open and two more Desians walked through.

"Who the hell are you two?" one of them asked, momentarily shocked.

"Umm… new recruits?" Lloyd answered, hoping they'd be dumb enough to believe him.

They weren't. "Prison bre—"

The guard's yell was cut off when Skah bashed the hilt of a knife into the man's head. Swiftly turning, he wrapped a hand around the back of the other Desian's neck and pressed his fingers into the soft flesh. Lloyd gasped as the man collapsed to the floor. "Did you just…?"

"Relax kid, they're only unconscious." Skah shrugged, tucked the knife into a sheath hidden in his black vest, and—stepping over the still figures on the floor—walked casually into the next room. "You coming?" he called over his shoulder.

"Uh, yeah, right." Lloyd followed, staring numbly at the man ahead of him. This guy was obviously good in a fight, which should have been reassuring, but only made Lloyd wonder once again if he could really trust him.

In the next room, his attention was caught by a weird-looking bowl thing sitting in the middle of the space. It had a bizarre glow around it, and Lloyd eagerly ran to look at it. "What do you think this does?"

"No time for that, hide!" A hand grabbed the back of his collar and roughly jerked him across the room and behind one of the huge machines. Skah clamped a hand over his mouth before he could protest, and a second later the door hissed open again.

"I don't know, I was just at the prison block, and the kid wasn't there! Neither was the blond guy, and when I asked Lord Botta about that one, he said there was only supposed to be one prisoner."

"I think you're looking too far into that one, Ash. Focus here, we're gonna be skewered if we don't find the kid in red."

"Does my outfit really stand out that much?" Lloyd whispered, annoyed.

"Shut up before they hear you."

"I'm telling you, we have to sound the alarm. Those chicks from Mizuho were just brought over; they can help look before they leave for their mission."

"Yeah, I guess. Man, I'm gonna be _killed_for letting him get out in the first place…" Lloyd heard some tapping on a keypad, then a light flashed a few times, accompanied by a loud buzzing. "There, alarm's on, let's go help find him."

The Desians did a few more things—Lloyd couldn't see what because Skah kept pushing his head back down every time he tried to look—muttering curses and complaints, then left the room.

"Okay, coast is clear, let's move on." Skah straightened, strode to the door at the other end of the room, and swore loudly when it wouldn't open. "Why won't the damned door work?"

"I think we've gotta do something to these weird things on the floor." Lloyd was pointing to the purple squares on either side of the space. Skah swore again when he looked.

"Shit, security devices. Looks like we need some electricity to open the lock."

"Um, Skah?"

"What is it?" he snapped, stopping in his examination of the floor panels to shoot a glare at Lloyd.

"What're those things behind you?"

Even as Skah turned, the red nose on the floating hunk of metal began to glow. Skah dove to the side as a red beam of light shot out of it.

Lloyd quickly unsheathed his blades and swung at the offending raybit, while Skah darted past him to attack the second machine. His wooden swords didn't even dent the thing no matter how hard he hit, and as far as he could tell, even Skah's serrated blade did little more than scratch the metal armor.

Skah leapt to the side again as the machines attacked. Unfortunately, he bounded straight into Lloyd. The brunette stumbled sideways and crashed into the glowing device. His elbow smacked into the orb, and he felt a jolt of electricity shoot up his arm.

"Hey, a little help over here?"

Skah was trapped between both of the raybits; their proximity confined his movements, rendering his blade useless. Lloyd fired the Sorcerer's Ring at the one nearer to him; he remembered how the flames stunned the monsters in the Martel Temple back in Iselia. Therefore, when instead of fire the ring emitted a glowing sphere of lightning, he spluttered in surprise. "What the—?" The raybit froze in midair, steel shell crackling with electricity from the shock. Almost instantly, the panel beneath it began to glow, and electricity charged along a thin path on the floor.

"What the hell did you do, kid?" Skah yelled, before following with his eyes the charged conduit from its source to its destination: the locked door. "You're an accidental genius!" he crowed. "Here, let's get the other one now."

Together, they lured the second raybit across the room, shocking it with the Sorcerer's Ring when it reached the other panel. The current to the door completed, it slid open with a hiss.

"I'm really ready to get out of this place," Lloyd sighed as they stepped into the next room, seeing still more strange devices.

"Yeah, you and me both."

After much arguing, cursing, and electrocution—Lloyd now severely regretted firing the Sorcerer's Ring at Skah—they found the entrance, which of course was locked. "Looks like we've got to get to the control room," Skah stated after examining the door.

"We have to go back through there? It was hard enough getting in here, how are we gonna get back?"

"Quit whining." Skah marched back the way they had come, yelling for Lloyd to "get his ass in there and shoot the freaking columns". After much more fumbling and yelling, a different door slid open and the pair—now both extremely frustrated with the other—walked through the door and straight into another Desian.

"Woah, watch where you're go—wait, who are you?"

Skah shoved the soldier to the side and bolted down the hallway, Lloyd in pursuit. They dove through a random door, letting it slide shut behind them.

"Phew, that was close," Lloyd panted.

From across the room, he heard a dangerously calm voice hiss, "And just who the hell are you?"

The owner of the voice strode serenely towards him, summoning a crackling ball of electricity in one hand seemingly effortlessly. Long blue hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail, and his black cape swirled behind him as he walked.

"Give me your name, and I shall give you mine!" Okay, that was the second time he had used that line that day. He needed to find some more come-backs.

The man simply laughed. "You certainly have guts. But I'm afraid I don't see the need to introduce myself to a miserable little creature like you."

"What a coincidence, 'cause I don't see a need to introduce myself either to a moron who doesn't realize how pathetic he is." Okay, the guy wasn't really pathetic at all—heh, the Professor would be proud he remembered that word—but it sounded pretty cool.

"Why, you little—"

It was then Skah decided to join the conversation. "Dude, you _seriously_ need to cut your hair."

"E-excuse me?" the man spluttered.

Skah shifted his weight into a defensive stance, and Lloyd quickly followed suit, because the blue-haired guy seemed ready to attack. The man's emerald-green eyes followed his movements, watched his hand move to the hilt of his sword, and then widened in something like shock. "Wait, an exsphere… _You're_ Lloyd?"

"And if I am?"

The electricity in his hand fizzled out as the man stepped closer, eyes narrowing as he examined Lloyd's face. Lloyd fought the urge to step back.

"Hmm… I see the resemblance." The man chuckled.

"What are you talking about?" Lloyd narrowed his eyes when the man didn't answer, which only seemed to amuse him more.

"Ah, even the glare… It's uncanny!"

"I think you're senile or something, old man," Skah stated coolly, unfazed by the situation before him.

The man's head turned towards him when he spoke, blue hair whipping behind it. "_You_should shut the hell up." He turned back to Lloyd. "As for you, boy—" He was interrupted by a low siren. Red light flashed through the room.

"What the—" the man gasped as the door to the room burst open. Lloyd grinned as he glimpsed his oldest friends rush in.

"Hey guys, nice timing!"

"Lloyd, are you all right?" Colette sounded worried, as usual.

Genis had followed Colette in, trailed by Kratos, who froze just beyond the doorway, eyes locked on the caped man before him. "Yuan?"

"Kratos, what are you doing here?"

The caped man, Yuan, seemed unnerved by the appearance of Kratos, though Lloyd could hardly blame him; Kratos had a way of creeping the hell out of you without even trying; when he glared at you, it felt like you might melt or something. However, Kratos did not seem to be _trying;_ actually, he looked as unnerved as Yuan did.

Something was very wrong here.

Kratos' eyes narrowed. "Shouldn't I be asking you the same question?"

"Wait, what's going on here? You guys know each other?" Lloyd looked back and forth between the two older males, thoroughly confused.

"I suppose you could say that," Kratos replied.

"I don't really think it matters right now," Genis snapped. "Look!"

The small half-elf pointed to the door as two Desians ran into the room, led by a familiar white-robed man, who stopped as he saw the group before him.

"You! You're the Desian that attacked us in Iselia!"

Botta's eyebrow rose. "So you're Lloyd? This _is_amusing… No matter, I'll take care of all of you at once!" He pulled out a gleaming red sword; the metal looked as if it had morphed from its original shape and taken on a life of its own. Lloyd gulped, but unsheathed his weapons as his friends did the same.

"Chosen, Genis, stay out of range," Kratos barked. "Look out for his spells. _You_," he shot at Skah, "take out the foot soldiers, then take the left flank. And as for you," he grabbed Lloyd's sleeve as he moved to attack. "Stay out of the way."

"Like hell I will!" Lloyd wrenched his arm from the mercenary's grip and charged the Desian nearest him. Kratos followed.

"You're not going to do any damage with those toys, boy," he grunted as he blocked a hit from their enemy.

"Oh yeah? Just watch me." Lloyd rammed his shoulder into the Desian's chest, then as he fell, bashed the hilt of his sword across the man's head. His exsphere glittered as the man collapsed.

Skah had already dispatched his assigned target— from what Lloyd saw before turning away, not very neatly—and had moved on to Botta, the two swordsmen locked in combat, the two large swords countering each other move for move.

From the corner of his gaze he saw Yuan, who had been standing aside through the battle, heave a sigh. Conjuring another orb of electricity in his hands, he strode forward, approaching Botta from behind. Suddenly, the crackling power raced outwards from his hands to strike Botta in the center of the back. The man crumpled under the hit.

Skah's blade slammed into his opponent's; shattering the deformed steel on contact. The fallen man grunted in pain, clutching his chest. "It seems… I underestimated you." Staggering, the man pushed himself off the ground and to the door. "Until next we meet…" He lurched through the doorway.

"Well, that was fun, now wasn't it?" Skah wiped his blade on the back of one of the fallen Desians, stooping to grab something off the ground before looking at the rest of the group. "How about we get the hell out now?"

"Yeah, I've had enough of this place," Lloyd agreed, turning to face his friends.

His friends' attention was focused elsewhere. "Who are you?" Colette bobbed up to Skah, smiling widely. "I'm Colette. How did you get here? Where—" Her question ended in a small squeak as the tumbled forward, having tripped on seemingly nothing. She fell into Skah's arms.

"Easy there, girl." He helped her to her feet, Colette blushing and stammering apologies.

"Yeah, who are you, anyway?" Genis asked.

"Introductions later, after we get out."

"I've activated the escape route." Yuan appeared in the doorway. Lloyd started; he hadn't noticed him leave.

Genis and Colette ran to Lloyd's side. "Are you okay? The Professor's outside with Noishe, she can help heal you when we get out."

"Lloyd, I'm sorry. It's my fault you're in here in the first place…"

"Jeez, you sound like Colette. It's not your fault; I dragged you into all of this, so I'm taking the blame. Now let's get out of here" He glanced over his shoulder. "Skah, Kratos, you coming?"

"Right behind you, kid."

As the younger group pulled ahead, Kratos turned to face Yuan. "What's going on here?" he hissed.

"I'll explain it all later, when we won't be… overheard."

"You had better, Yuan, you had damn better."


	2. Playful Wanderings

**Disclaimer: Namco owns Tales of Symphonia, not me. Hopefully someday I shall buy Namco…**

…

The firelight flickered across the sands, throwing a small circle of light on the ground. The orange glow bathed the still figures wrapped in blankets in a comforting aura of warmth in the freezing desert night; however, for the two men still awake, it only cast harsh shadows across their unlined faces, falsely aging them in a way their infinite years had not.

"Well, Yuan?" The other members of their group having been asleep for hours, Kratos had no fear of being overheard.

Yuan heaved a sigh, blue hair, dyed ginger by the fire, falling in front of his eyes. "I'm sure you've put it all together by now, Kratos. Why even ask me to explain?" He was met with a glare in response. "Yes, it was me." He sighed again. "It was me the entire time. I started it all."

"Why?" It wasn't even a whisper, it was hardly more than a breath, but it was more than enough for Yuan's ears in the silent night.

"_Why_, Kratos? The question should be, why not sooner? What haven't we done over the years that needs righting?" He chuckled bitterly. "I did what I had to do, Kratos. I couldn't just stand by and watch the world—worlds— go to hell."

Kratos gazed into the flames as he answered. "Everything we've worked for, Yuan. You're simply throwing it away without a backward glance?"

"Backward glances are what this is all about. I want to be able to look back without being ashamed of what I see. What we were doing, what Mithos is doing, is wrong. I'm trying to destroy the monster I helped create." Kratos opened his mouth to reply, but Yuan cut him off. "Mithos' plan is not going to work, Kratos. It took me a long time to realize that. We can't just cling to it. It's not the only option."

For a few minutes, the only sound was the crackling of the fire. Yuan stared at its blue heart as Kratos beside him gazed up at the stars. Somehow, even though he should have been tense, he wasn't. Nothing was going to happen tonight. Through the shared connection born of centuries of companionship, the two understood that whatever confrontation, whatever conflict, may occur, it wouldn't break the stillness of this night.

Without looking away from the sky, Kratos murmured, "She's your fiancée, Yuan. You're going to give up on her?"

"Martel died a long time ago. She wouldn't want us to bring her back. She wouldn't want…" Yuan gestured to the dying world around them, "this."

"What else are we supposed to do? This Chosen can resurrect her; the mana signature is almost a perfect match. Once Martel is revived, Mithos will stop the cycle."

"And start the Age of Lifeless Beings. Is that really what you want, Kratos? This inane system has already done enough damage. What about Anna? Do you want more victims like her?"

Kratos visibly tensed, his hand gripping the hilt of his sword. "I—" He stopped himself, and after a moment, his voice tightly controlled, whispered, "The sooner we revive Martel, the sooner this all stops."

"That's what Mithos told you, isn't it? To make you come back?"

The two men's gazes met briefly, shock in one, something like pity in the other. After a long moment, Kratos sighed, head hung, eyes closed. "What else can we do, Yuan?"

"We can try to fix this."

"There's no way." Kratos shook his head. "We've gone too far to turn back."

"There's always time to turn back," Yuan murmured.

After a few moments' silence, Kratos looked back up at the stars. "All this time… almost two centuries since we first heard of the Renegades, and how long before that… Why did you never tell me?"

"Just to have you run to Mithos?" Yuan scoffed at Kratos' attempted protest. "We both know it would have happened."

"You're telling me now, are you not?"

"Yes, because I have to, Kratos, not because I trust you. We've known each other too long, too well, for real trust. My question now is, what will you do now that you know?"

Kratos' wine-red eyes hardened. "This Regeneration must succeed, Yuan."

"Only because you refuse to see any other option." Before Kratos could reply, Yuan cut him off. "You want to tell Mithos, don't you?"

"I don't see a reason not to."

"Try looking right over there." Yuan jerked his head towards one of the bundles near the fire; a bit of brown hair was visible between the blankets. "Lloyd is untrained, clumsy. It would be so easy for him to meet an untimely demise."

"You wouldn't," Kratos hissed.

"I don't want to, but we both know I would. Or I could tell Mithos the boy's still alive. Or maybe, I could let slip to him exactly what happened to his parents…"

"You know you have me in a damn corner, Yuan, just tell me exactly what you want."

"We both conveniently forget what happened today and go on with our own plans. I protect your secret, you keep mine. Once we get to Triet, I can disappear and you all can go on your way."

Kratos took a few minutes of silence to think; eventually he nodded his head. "I suppose there's nothing I can do to stop you."

Their conversation over, nothing more to discuss, Yuan looked at the sky, examined the position of the stars, judged the amount of light. Only a few more hours until dawn. Dawn, when they would continue to Triet and he could make his escape.

The two men wordlessly watched the desert, listened to the night. Neither of them noticed that one of their silent companions was not asleep; they didn't see the crimson eyes facing away from the firelight, the small smile twisting their listener's lips.

…

Lloyd grinned as the city came into view. Even though it was early, the desert had already heated up into an inferno, and he was sick and tired of walking. They had picked up camp at dawn, eager to get to Triet and an inn: they needed to rest and reorganize before finding the Seal of Fire.

It felt good to be walking alongside Noishe, talking to his friends. It felt a little bit like home, which was something they all craved. Well, it wasn't exactly like home; they had a few additions.

Skah walked a little to the side of everyone else, occasionally joining in the conversation. He had introduced himself the day before, and while the adults didn't seem to trust him, the guy fit in pretty well with him, Genis, and Colette.

Yuan trailed behind the group by Kratos. The two had explained that they had traveled together when they were younger. Apparently, he had snuck into the Desian base on his own, trying to disable it, or so he said. Lloyd wasn't so sure; he had seemed pretty confident when they first ran into him, which seemed strange for someone trying not to be noticed. And he knew who Lloyd was, although that could be explained by those demented wanted posters the Desians had put up. Still, the man acted really strange…

Speaking of strange, the closer they got to the town's gates, the more the Professor was acting weird. There was this gleam in her eyes that kind of scared him.

When they finally made it into the small city, she turned around to face her students and in a frighteningly familiar voice stated, "Just because we've left Iselia, I don't want you to think you don't need to study. I expect you all to use this journey as a learning experience, and we shall start here." She turned to her brother and ordered him to start listing the ways that Triet's culture differed from Iselia's.

"Oh no, she's gone into her teacher mode!" Lloyd backed up a few steps, quickly evaluating his escape routes. Seeing Genis as already lost—most of the Professor's attention was focused on him as he answered her questions—he grabbed Skah's arm and hissed, "Colette, c'mon!" He darted off down a street to the left, dragging the startled swordsman with him. Colette giggled and skipped after them, pleased with a continuation of the familiar pastime. She loved it when they hid from the Professor. Noishe whined piteously as he watched his master abandon him.

Lloyd dragged a surprised Skah down the streets, Colette following close behind, completely unfazed by the quick turns, dodges, and changes in direction; the two had practiced such maneuvers countless times in Iselia. After the initial rush of escaping the tortures of Raine's lecture, the trio slowed down and began to admire the foreign city. The dirt roads twisted and twined between rows of stalls; accented voices called out, advertising their wares. A couple minutes in, Lloyd found himself totally lost. Not that he minded; actually, the Professor would have realized by now that he was gone, and the longer he could escape her wrath, the better.

"So what's up with the crazy hag anyway?" Skah asked as he and Lloyd examined a set of throwing knives, Colette in the next booth looking at jewelry.

"The Professor's not a hag!"

"Ah, but you don't deny she's crazy."

Lloyd laughed. "Only when she's teaching."

Colette appeared behind them. "I like Professor Raine's lectures! They're fun!"

"Then why did you come with us?"

"Because now they all have to find us! It's like hide-and-go-seek!"

Skah looked at the girl incredulously. "Maybe that Raine chick's not the only crazy one in this group."

Browsing the shops quickly lost its appeal when they realized they had no gald on them, but the narrow, twisting alleys of Triet beckoned. They had been exploring for a while when Lloyd first felt it, that inescapable fear of being followed. Then he heard it, the soft scraping of boots on sand. Lloyd slowed his steps, and after a second Skah and Colette followed suit; the footsteps grew slower, halted for a moment. He sped up again, and he heard the steps behind him start again.

Lloyd could feel his heart beat a little faster; his pulse began to pound in his head. He heard in his head something Kratos had said about thieves and bandits hiding in Triet. This was idiotic, they were just asking to be attacked: wandering around in an unfamiliar city, not caring about how much noise they made. He figured normally he could handle a bandit or two on his own, and he had Skah to help, but they didn't know the terrain, and the constricted alleyway offered little room to move.

He turned a sharp hairpin corner, glancing back the way they had come, and felt relief wash through him as he glimpsed a small swish of something purple…

"Hey guys," he whispered so softly that they could barely hear him, "we've got company. C'mon." He quickened his step, dragging his companions deeper into the coiling network of paths.

…

Kratos sighed softly; his charge and her cohorts had been wandering aimlessly for almost an hour now, and showed no signs of stopping. He supposed it could have been worse: trailing these children was infinitely better than listening to that woman prattle on in her lesson. He wouldn't be at all surprised if they returned without her noticing their absence.

Still, he had to admit he was a little unsettled by the location chosen for the trio's misadventures. This side of Triet held many dangers for the innocent. However, those weren't the only things that worried him. Skah, the blond man whom Lloyd had met in the Renegade base, was unpredictable and set all of Kratos' nerves on edge. He had no idea where the man had come from or what his motives were, and he would gladly leave him here to rot when they moved on; however, the Chosen, backed by Lloyd and Genis, wanted him to remain, and somehow Raine and himself had been over-ruled.

"_Hold on a sec,_you're _the_Chosen_?" the man gaped, crimson eyes wide and orange scarf blowing in the wind._

"_Yeah, I am." Colette blushed._

"_So this is the Regeneration group…" Skah muttered. After thinking a moment, a grin grew on his face, a grin that to Kratos seemed sly, conniving. "You've got to need some protection, right? Mind if I come along for the ride?"_

_Lloyd and Colette exclaimed in joy, encouraging their new friend's idea. Kratos exchanged a concerned glance with Raine; for once, they were in agreement. Skah could not be trusted._

"_This is an extremely dangerous mission," the woman stated. "Why do you want to come?"_

"_I like to travel. Trust me, I can handle this." He stretched, cat-like, seemingly careless but subtly aware of his surroundings._

_Despite Kratos' and Raine's arguments, the younger group won out. They had gained a new companion._

He quickened his pace slightly to keep up with his charge. The group was now running, they seemed to be racing in the cramped space. They darted around a corner and out of his sight for a moment, their laughter and taunts drifting behind them.

He rounded the same corner moments later and found himself faced with a fork; up ahead, three paths deviated from the one he trod. He hesitated slightly, unsure of which option to follow. A second later, a faint girlish laugh led him down the alley to the right.

He now heard nothing; the friendly banter had suddenly ceased. His pace quickened. There was a corner ahead of him, only one route they could have taken. Fingers brushing the hilt of his sword, he rounded the corner to see—

A dead end. He stopped in his tracks, eyes flickering around, searching the space for any way they could have gotten through.

"Back here."

He spun to see Lloyd standing in the center of the path behind him. Colette hung on his left arm, and Skah leaned casually against the wall to his right. Together, they completely blocked the slender alley.

How had they managed it? It was near impossible to sneak up on him, yet he hadn't heard them at all. It seemed Lloyd was cleverer than he had originally believed.

"Why were you following us, Kratos?"

"My job is to protect the Chosen, Lloyd. I was merely earning my pay."

"I can keep Colette safe. Go back and find Yuan or something, I don't really care, just leave us alone."

Kratos' eyes narrowed. "I'm afraid I cannot do that."

"Sorry, Kratos, but boring adults aren't allowed here."

Colette turned to Lloyd. "Oh, we should let him come along if he wants to, Lloyd. He can explore with us!"

"I agree with Lloyd." Skah rolled his shoulders. "This guy would kill the fun."

"But Lloyd…" Colette pleaded. "It's not fair to leave him alone. Let him come!"

Lloyd seemed to think the matter over for a moment, then sighed. "Fine, whatever." He turned around and started walking away. "Come if you want to. We should probably find our way out of here anyway."

"I know the way back to the square," Kratos stated, keeping pace with the boy and his friends. "I can lead you out from here."

"No." The reply came from Skah.

"And why not?"

It was the Chosen who answered him. "Because that would ruin the fun!"

This was going to be a long journey.

…

About an hour beforehand, a silver-haired woman in the town square nodded as her younger brother answered another of her questions. "Genis, you're absolutely correct. Now, Lloyd, can you tell me…" Raine trailed off as she turned to face a student that wasn't there. Glancing around, she noticed Colette, Skah, and Kratos had disappeared as well.

"Where did they go?" she demanded of the two that remained. Genis looked sheepish, and Yuan froze in the process of sneaking away. "Well?" She stared at her brother, who was engrossed in petting Noishe. It seemed he was reluctant to get his friends into trouble. She turned her glare to the blue-haired man.

"Lloyd grabbed the blondes and ran off about five minutes ago, Kratos followed them. Now if you'll excuse me, I have other business to attend to."

He started towards one of the paths leading deeper into the city. Raine snatched his arm.

"Let go of me."

"You are staying with us until we find Kratos and those absurd children."

"Excuse me? You can't keep me here—"

"Oh yes I can. Kratos is _your_ friend, is he not? You're going to help me track them down."

"So you're punishing me for _him_leaving?"

"Exactly." Raine pulled on his arm, told Genis to follow them, and stalked into the city, dragging the two frightened males with her. Noishe trotted after them, a mocking grin on his canine face.

…

They had eventually found their way out of the maze of alleyways and back into the heart of the city. Lloyd glanced longingly at some swords on display in a weapons booth, was about to tell the others to stop for a minute when he heard one of the scariest things in all of Sylvarant: "Lloyd Irving, where have you _been_?"

"Oh shit, we're screwed." Lloyd muttered, eyes widening in fear as he saw his teacher storming towards him, Genis and Yuan in tow.

"Looks like they found us!" Colette chirped happily, unaware of the danger in front of them. "Hi Professor!"

"Lloyd, do you have _any_idea how idiotic it was to just run off like that in a foreign city? And you dragged Colette along too. That was _completely_irresponsible."

While the elven woman's rant continued, Yuan scowled at Kratos. "Thanks to you, that madwoman dragged _me_around this whole time!" he hissed. "But if you don't mind, I'm heading out now."

"Yuan, I think we need to talk about this."

"No, Kratos, there's nothing you can do to change my mind. Don't even bother. I'll see you around." Yuan turned and strode away, leaving the Regeneration group behind.

Meanwhile, the Professor hadn't finished. "Honestly, I expected better from you. Just wandering off without any adult supervision—"

"We had adult supervision!" Lloyd protested, pointing at Skah.

"_He_hardly counts, Lloyd. He's obviously just as rash as you are! And _you_!" She rounded on Kratos. "You just followed them without a word! Didn't try to stop them, didn't say anything about it, what in the world were you _thinking_?"

"I was hired to protect the Chosen, Ms. Sage; I was merely doing my job. I believe myself capable of guarding her without your help. Besides, I didn't want to interrupt your lecture," Kratos replied coolly.

Skah rolled his eyes at Raine's fury. "Holy shit, woman, calm down."

The Professor raised a hand to smack him. Lloyd winced in sympathy pain; he knew too well what that hit would feel like. However, it never hit its mark. Skah caught her hand in midair, crimson eyes narrowed in anger. "Don't touch me," he snarled, throwing her hand down. The Professor's ocean-blue eyes were wide as she watched the man depart. Lloyd saw her rubbing her wrist.

"What the…" Lloyd muttered to himself; he hadn't seen Skah act that way before. It looked like he had really hurt Raine's wrist…

"Professor, I'm really sorry," Colette murmured, head down. "We didn't mean to make you angry, we just wanted to explore the city. I'm sorry."

The elf turned back to her student, much gentler than before. "Colette, I was only angry because I was worried. Next time you want to explore, tell me. It's just not safe to go without telling anyone."

"I'm sorry."

"As for you, Lloyd," the Professor glared at him, "the next time you skip one of my lectures, I'm feeding you tomatoes for a week." Lloyd paled; tomatoes were bad enough without _her_cooking them. "Let's go to the inn."

"Professor, can I stay and look at the swords? I'll be there in a bit."

His teacher frowned, and Lloyd could see the "no" coming.

"I'll watch the boy, take the Chosen to the inn," Kratos offered. Lloyd stared at the man; he hadn't thought the mercenary would help him out.

Raine sighed, still unhappy with the arrangements, but when she could find nothing but Kratos to be displeased with, she agreed. "Fine, just don't take too long." Raine steered Colette and Genis back towards the square.

"Thanks, Kratos," Lloyd said grudgingly.

"Don't mention it." The mercenary's eyes were not on Lloyd, but were following the churning crowds.

Lloyd ran to see the blades on display, asking the shopkeeper about the quality of the different weapons.

"I almost have enough for these!" Lloyd moaned, examining a set of twin swords. He'd give anything for real weapons, but even if he had his money on him, he'd be a hundred gald short.

Kratos brushed past him and paid the shopkeeper the specified amount. "You're going to pay me back," he stated as Lloyd stared in awe at the man.

"Kratos, you are the coolest person ever," he said as he held the blades that were now his. His dislike of the man was swiftly disintegrating.

"Come on, Lloyd, we'd best head to the inn. We don't want to keep that teacher of yours waiting."

…

After Lloyd entered the inn, Kratos ducked into the shadows beside the building. Certain no one was near, he pulled out a small device. Activating the communicator, he waited for an answering signal.

It soon came. "Kratos, what's going on?"

"We've run into some difficulty with the Renegades, My Lord."

"Those bastards again?" The childish voice on the other end huffed in frustration. "Can you handle it yourself?"

"Most likely, but I don't want to take any chances with the Chosen's safety."

"You're right. Yuan's supposed to be in the area, I'll send him to help you."

"Thank you, My Lord."

Kratos smiled to himself as the connection was severed. He had received the reply he had hoped for.

…

**Review please?**


	3. Companions and Key Crests

**Ah, chapter three already… A bit later than I had wanted to post it, but oh well… Review please?**

**From here on out, just assume I don't own Tales of Symphonia. I'm already sick of saying it.**

…

"Hey, look at these!" Lloyd held his new blades out for his friends to see.

"Wow Lloyd, real swords! You don't have to use wooden ones anymore!" Colette exclaimed happily, enjoying her best friend's enthusiasm.

"I thought you didn't have much gald." Genis had looked up from the thick book the Professor had told him to study, brow furrowed quizzically.

"Kratos lent me some money," Lloyd said carelessly as he fumbled with the swords, replacing the practice blades already attached to his belts.

Colette smiled. She knew that Kratos was nice; he just needed a little time to show it more. She liked it when everyone was getting along. Well, everyone but Skah and the Professor. She frowned, remembering how mad he had gotten when the Professor tried to hit him. Well, it was against Martel's teachings to be mean, and hitting people wasn't exactly _nice_, but he didn't have to be so mean back to the Professor. Martel said to turn the other cheek, not retaliate.

But now the Professor seemed to have forgotten about it; she was telling Lloyd to be careful with his swords after he had taken them out of the sheaths to show Genis. Lloyd's face turned red as he put his swords away. Colette giggled, because Lloyd's face was almost the color of his shirt. Genis laughed a bit meanly before going back to reading.

Kratos came in right then, so quietly that no one but her noticed. He leaned against the wall watching them all; he was looking the most at Lloyd, but that was probably because him and the Professor were arguing about his new weapons.

"Hi Kratos!" she chirped cheerfully.

"Chosen," he replied, nodding.

Everyone looked over at him, finally noticing that he had come back.

"Oh, Kratos, hold on, I've got some of the money right here." Lloyd dug through his things before coming up with some gald, which he shoved into Kratos' hands. "That covers most of it; I'll pay you the rest soon."

"Mr. Aurion, did you really think it necessary to buy the boy weapons?" the Professor scolded.

"He's safer with them than without, Ms. Sage. He would not be able to defend himself with wooden blades."

"He's a child; he hardly knows how to use them!"

"I know how to fight!" Lloyd protested, not that the adults were paying attention to him.

"If he is going to come on this journey, he will need to be able to fight. Would you rather have him defenseless, like yourself? Without an exsphere, you really are not doing much good."

The Professor spluttered, but recovered quickly. "Lloyd's going to do more damage to himself than to anyone else! He doesn't know what he's doing!"

"Then I shall teach him," Kratos replied coolly, turning to Lloyd and adding, "assuming you have no objections."

"Uh, yeah," Lloyd said, obviously surprised. "Sure."

"Then the matter seems to be settled."

The Professor didn't look happy at all, but she didn't argue anymore. No one looked like they were going to say anything, so Colette figured it was safe to ask something that had been bothering her since they got to the inn. "Where did Mr. Yuan go?"

"Yuan had to leave for a while, Chosen," Kratos told her.

"Are we going to see him again?"

"I expect we will soon enough."

"Okay." Colette smiled; if Kratos and Yuan were friends, then she thought that if he was around, then Kratos might be a little happier.

"Hey Colette, you wanna go hang with Noishe for a while?" Lloyd asked, heading for the door.

"Okay!" She ran over to Lloyd, tripping on the way. Lloyd rolled his eyes, but helped her up and held the door open for her.

…

Outside, Lloyd opened the door to the stable where they were keeping Noishe and scratched the dog's huge ears. "Hey, boy, how are you?" Noishe barked in response.

Colette skipped over to the dog and began petting him. After a few minutes of baby talk to the animal, Noishe laid down on the straw floor of the small structure. Lloyd followed suit, leaning into his pet's furry side. He patted the ground next to him, and Colette quickly plopped down, sighing happily.

"Colette, I wanna talk to you about something," Lloyd began lamely, mentally slapping himself for the abrupt subject change.

"What is it, Lloyd?"

He closed his eyes and leaned back into Noishe, now regretting bringing the topic up, but unwilling to let it drop. "Why did you want to leave me in Iselia? I mean, I know this is dangerous, but that's why you shouldn't have to go alone, and…" he trailed off, unsure of what to say.

Colette hung her head. "Lloyd, I just didn't want you to get hurt. I know I lied, but I thought it would be best if you could go on with your normal life. I'm sorry."

"Colette, since when has my life been normal?" Colette giggled at that, and pleased that he had cheered her up a little, he continued. "Anyway, now I'm here, so we can regenerate the world together. Then maybe we can both go back home, right?"

"Yeah, I'm sure we can…" Her response didn't sound very sure though, and Lloyd was about to ask what was wrong when a mocking voice drifted to them from the stable door.

"Aw, and what do we have here?"

Lloyd looked up over Noishe and Colette to see Skah leaning on the gate, one hand cupped under his chin and orange scarf blowing in the slight breeze, crimson eyes locked on the two teens, smirk twisting his mouth.

"Where have you been?" Lloyd countered as he stood up, brushing sand and straw off himself.

"Around." Suddenly, the man tossed something small towards Lloyd. He caught it, looking at it curiously. "That's an exsphere, right?" the tall blonde asked.

"Yeah, it is… Where did you get this?"

"At that blasted Ranch. The bugger in the dress had two of them on his sword. You've got one, right? So do the kid and the old man."

"Yeah, but you can't use it without a Key Crest."

"Hmm. Too bad." Skah snatched the gem out of Lloyd's hand. "I'll have to find one of those, then." He turned and started for the inn, Lloyd and Colette following him.

"How exactly do you think you're gonna find one?" Lloyd asked as they re-entered the inn.

"Dunno, might just end up taking one from a Desian or something, who cares? I'll figure it out," he replied nonchalantly, absently tossing the stone between his hands. "Why do you even need the crest deal, anyway?"

Lloyd frowned slightly. "I don't really know why, but equipping an exsphere without one is bad for you." His thoughts went back to Iselia, to Marble… He shuddered. "Just don't try it."

Skah looked curiously at Lloyd's reaction, but only shrugged. "Whatever you say, kid." He went back to playing with the small gem.

Out of nowhere, a hand snatched the exsphere out of the air before Skah caught it. "Where did you find this?" Kratos asked.

"At the ranch. Why does it matter to you, old man?"

The "old man's" eyes narrowed at the comment, but before he could reply, the Professor emerged from what Lloyd assumed was her room for the night. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Skah. Lloyd moved back slightly, nervous; he had been on the receiving end of the Professor's bad moods often enough, and wasn't sure he wanted to witness whatever was about to happen next.

Turns out he didn't want to after all, but not for the reasons he expected.

The Professor's silver-blue eyes hardened when she saw the blond man, but her gaze quickly found the gem in Kratos' hand. Suddenly, the look on her face was almost disturbingly happy: eyes wide in excitement, gleaming strangely. It was kind of… scary.

"Is that an exsphere?"

Genis followed her out of the door, eyeing his sister warily as she practically ran to the swordsmen and grabbed the stone, examining it closely.

"Uh, yeah, Professor…" Lloyd saw he wasn't the only one scared now; Genis' face was going pale, and Kratos took a step back. Skah seemed really freaked out, too. Only Colette wasn't affected.

"Skah found two of them when we fought the Desians, Professor," she answered happily.

"Is it true that these stones are amplifiers that awaken our dormant capabilities?" Lloyd only understood about half of that question. "Would it be possible for me to use one?"

He understood that. "No, not without a Key Crest." How many times was he going to have to say that today?

Colette cocked her head to the side. "Can't we just make one?" she asked curiously. It looked like she had been wondering that for a while.

Kratos shook his head. "A Key Crest is made by processing inhibitor ore, then engraving it with a crest to control the exsphere attached to its surface. It is said to be a secret art known only to the dwarves."

"But Lloyd," Genis interjected, "your dad is a dwarf. Can't you make one?"

"I can engrave the charm—er, crest, but I can't process the ore."

"Wait a moment," the Professor said before running back into her room, returning with her arms full of what looked like junk to Lloyd. She spread it all out on one of the tables. "Well, is there any inhibitor ore among these materials?"

Genis groaned. "Raine, you brought all this from our _house?_"

"Of course, Genis. These are valuable research…" Lloyd felt himself start to drift off as the Professor ranted about the useless stuff.

Skah walked over to the table, ignoring the raving elf, and looked at the assorted items. "These look like what Lloyd's got on his exsphere," he stated, grabbing a couple bits of metal from the collection.

"Huh?" Lloyd shook himself out of his daze and joined Skah. "Those are Key Crests!"

"I found them in front of the human ranch," the Professor explained. "They were engraved with the Angelic language, so I took them."

"But Professor, the charms are almost completely worn off. You can't use them like that."

"Can you repair them, Lloyd?"

He considered the crests for a few moments, then nodded. "Yeah, I'll be able to fix them. I'll work on it tonight."

"Thank you, Lloyd! I'm sorry to make you go through the trouble, but I appreciate it." The Professor's eyes were still glittering strangely.

Lloyd nodded, told her it was fine, he didn't mind. He looked over the Key Crests in his hands, gauging the amount of work he had to do before they were usable… He sighed. This was going to take all night.

…

The mercenary had slipped outside, bored of the discussion inside the adobe building. No one had noticed him leave, which was fortunate: he was expecting a visit, and it wouldn't do to be overheard.

He hadn't gone far from the inn when he heard footsteps behind him.

"Kratos, you bastard!"

Without turning around, he calmly replied, "What is it, Yuan?"

"I was just told by Mithos that I'm needed to guard the Chosen! You set this up."

Kratos shrugged. "And if I did?"

"What about our agreement?"

He turned to face the livid half-elf. "I have not broken our agreement, Yuan. I told Mithos nothing of your involvement with the Renegades. He made this decision himself."

"After you told him you needed help." Yuan gritted his teeth, fighting to control his anger. "My Renegades won't stop just because I'm here."

"I expected no less."

Yuan glared at him; Kratos stared calmly back. "Our compromise still stands."

"Yes, I suppose it does," Yuan snapped. "I have to admit, you're more resourceful than I gave you credit for."

Kratos turned his back on the man, a clear signal that the discussion was over. "Goodbye, Yuan."

"Go to hell."

…

"Hey, looks like Blue's back."

Colette looked up at the sound of Skah's voice, then turned to see Yuan walking in. Her face lit up and she waved to the man, not saying anything because her mouth was full of food: Genis had made lunch.

She swallowed. "Hi, Mr. Yuan! Do you want anything to eat?" An array of fruits was spread out on the table in front of her, along with a few rolls and some dried meat. Lloyd had already finished eating and left to work on the Key Crests and Kratos had disappeared, so it was only her, Skah, Genis, and the Professor around the table.

"Back so soon?" the Professor asked; she didn't look happy to see Yuan at all. "Kratos said you had some other business to take care of."

"Well, I took care of it. So, what are the plans for the rest of the day?" he asked as he sat down next to Colette and helped himself to some fruit.

"I didn't think you were planning on staying with us," the Professor stated coldly. Colette cocked her head to the side, looking at her teacher curiously. She said it like she didn't want him around.

"Why would you think that?" Yuan looked taken aback. "Did you think I was just going to leave? I couldn't abandon the Chosen's group, especially not when Kratos is already with you. You need someone to keep track of the man."

Colette giggled at that, as did Genis. Raine, however, narrowed her eyes. "I suppose you're intent on that." When Yuan simply smirked, she sighed. "Well, I'm afraid we didn't plan on your joining us when we booked rooms for the night. I believe Skah has another bed in his room; the two of you can share, if you don't mind."

Skah opened his mouth—probably to say he _did_ mind, a lot—but Yuan cut him off. "That'll be fine, for now. But maybe next time, we can have a more, ah, _desirable_arrangement." His smirk widened, and he raised one blue eyebrow. Skah seemed to think something was funny, the Professor scowled, and Genis looked grossed out. Colette frowned, not understanding at all. Pushing it from her mind, she happily went back to eating her lunch.

…

Lloyd yawned, stretched his arms behind him, and rubbed his eyes. Looking back at the Key Crest in his hand, he examined the charm carved into the metal. Satisfied with his work, he stood.

It was about midnight. While the job hadn't been quite as time-consuming as he had thought, it had still taken him all day to repair both Crests, and he was exhausted. He looked longingly at his bed, deciding whether or not to wait until morning to give the Crests to Skah and the Professor.

As comfortable as the bed looked, he had been hunched over his work all day and needed to stretch out; he decided to check if the Professor was still awake. He would have gone to see Skah, except somehow he had ended up in a room with that Yuan guy, and frankly, Lloyd didn't like him, didn't trust him, and _definitely _didn't want to accidentally piss the guy off by waking him up.

Why Skah wasn't with Lloyd didn't make much sense to him, but the Professor was wary of the blonde, and as much as she didn't like Kratos, she seemed more comfortable with leaving Lloyd with the mercenary. Lloyd didn't really like it—Kratos never said anything, it was kinda creepy—but there wasn't much he could do about it.

Lloyd slipped out of the room, not bothering to tell his "roommate" where he was going. He looked out from over the side of the balcony-like hallway at the lobby and was surprised to see a bit of orange and blond. "Hey," he called out softly as he came down the stairs.

"You still up?" Skah had been leaned back in a chair, staring at nothing, but leaned forward as the younger swordsman approached. "I thought you'd have gone to sleep by now."

"Nah, I was working on this." Lloyd tossed the finished Key Crest to him; Skah caught it effortlessly. "Besides, it's pretty weird with Kratos there. I mean, he's pretty cool, but…"

"I know what you mean. Blue's weirding me out, too."

Lloyd sat down across the table from Skah. "He never freaking _says_anything! He just sits there."

"Lucky you. Blue doesn't shut up. Keeps asking all sorts of random things. It's driving me crazy." Skah glanced around the empty room, then leaned a bit closer. "Besides, he seems pretty strange to me, like how he was 'infiltrating' that Ranch. Sure didn't seem like it when we ran into him."

"Yeah, I know. But Kratos knows him and seems to buy it…"

"I don't."

Lloyd sighed. "I don't know what I think."

"I think that the two of you should be asleep."

Lloyd jumped, practically knocking his chair—and himself—over as he turned to see the Professor standing in her doorway, glaring at the both of them.

"Oh, Professor!" Lloyd exclaimed, sincerely hoping that she hadn't been listening to their whole conversation. They hadn't really said anything bad, but still… "I finished your Key Crest for you," he added, hoping to distract her so he could get away.

"Lloyd, you didn't need to stay up 'til all hours to finish that," she reprimanded, but her voice had softened a bit.

"It's fine, Professor," he replied, standing to go hand her the remaining Crest. "Why are you up, anyway?"

"Oh, I was reading about the ruins to the west, considering that they seem the likely location of the Seal of Fire." She was getting that scary look in her eyes again.

"Okay, Professor…" Lloyd backed away slightly. "I think I'm gonna go to bed now." With a quick "Good night" to both she and Skah, he practically ran back to his room, anxious to escape from his teacher, who had been starting to examine the Key Crest with obvious enthusiasm.

Back in his room and well aware that tomorrow they'd have to trek through the desert again before facing whatever awaited at the Triet Ruins, Lloyd collapsed on his bed, blowing out the candle on the nightstand. He rolled over, and almost before he had time to realize he was still fully clothed, was asleep.


	4. Ping

Lloyd's eyes sprang open when he heard the door shut. It wasn't even loud—actually, he wasn't entirely sure he had heard it until he noticed Kratos was gone—so it shouldn't have woken him up, but here he was, awake… Crap.

And it was early too! He wagered he'd only gotten about four hours of sleep, judging by the small amount of light coming in through the single window. And they had to leave for the stupid ruins today, too. Lloyd rolled over; pulling the pillow over his head, even though he knew the effort was useless. Once he was woken up, he could never get back to sleep.

He stubbornly laid there for a few more minutes, desperately trying to force himself back into slumber. However, despite his tiredness, he couldn't force his eyes to stay closed. Groaning, he pushed himself up and off the bed, stripping off yesterday's clothes that he had slept in. As he re-dressed, a though hit him. _What's Kratos doing up this early?_

Hmm, seemed suspicious… Time to check it out.

Lloyd snuck out the door and down the stairs, seeing neither hide nor hair of the mercenary. Figuring he must be outside, Lloyd crept to the door, opening it just a crack to check if the coast was clear. He quietly slipped through.

Kratos was in front of the stable where Noishe was sleeping, arms crossed over his chest, talking, but to whom? …Oh, Yuan was standing in the shadows, leaned against one of the stable's posts. What were they both doing out here this early in the morning? Lloyd tiptoed closer to the pair, striving to hear a bit of their conversation…

"Well, Kratos, what are you going to do about it, then?"

"I can't do anything."

"But he's—"

"You don't think I know that?" Kratos sighed. "There's nothing to be done. I'm here to escort the Chosen, nothing more."

What were they talking about? Lloyd couldn't make much sense of the conversation. He was currently skulking just around the corner from them, pressing himself back against the wall. Yuan muttered something too soft for him to hear; Kratos answered in an equally low voice. Lloyd curiously inched closer; his interest rising, he stopped paying as much attention to being quiet…

He gasped, his eyes widening as he felt the steel pressed to his throat. "Whoa!"

The blade dropped as the auburn-haired mercenary took a step back. "Lloyd…" He sheathed his sword.

"Nice job, you almost skewered the kid," Yuan said sarcastically from behind Kratos.

"What are you doing, Lloyd?"

"Uh…" He felt his face flush; being caught eavesdropping was not good at all. He decided it was best to fight fire with fire. "I should ask you the same thing. It's freaking _early_. Besides, you woke me up when you left."

"I apologize." Kratos had already turned away, probably trying to figure out how much of his conversation Lloyd had heard.

Lloyd needed to relax the situation a bit. "So… since we're both up and all, maybe you could start training me, like you said before?" Lloyd had seen the man in action, and while slightly—okay, scratch that, _majorly_—resentful of the guy, he had skills. Lloyd was practically itching to get that good.

"If you really want to, I see no reason why not."

"Sweet." Lloyd was pumped, ready to show what he could do.

"Oh, this is gonna be good…" Yuan smirked. "I think I have to see this."

So it happened that a few minutes later, the two swordsmen faced each other across the sand, their blue-haired companion sprawled lazily on the ground.

Lloyd grinned as he sank into a fighting stance. "You ready?"

Kratos stood casually, sword drawn, but held loosely. The man nodded without shifting his stance, which ticked Lloyd off. Who did this guy think he was? Lloyd charged, blades poised to slash at the man—

Who was suddenly no longer there. Lloyd felt a tug on the back of his collar; he jerked backwards, choking, and was thrown to the ground. The mercenary had easily side-stepped his attack, stepping behind him as he ran past. Yuan chuckled from the sidelines.

"Hmph, just as I expected," Kratos said coolly, his auburn hair not hiding the disdain on his face. "Sloppy, unrefined. Vulnerable."

Lloyd growled as he picked himself up, launching himself immediately at the mercenary.

He was once again thrown backwards, but at least Kratos had used the sword that time…

"Did you honestly expect to get through this journey?" the man asked as Lloyd charged a third time, knocking the boy back with little effort.

"Sh-shut up!"

Kratos disarmed him quickly, shoving him forward into the sand. "At this rate, you'll only slow everyone down."

Forsaking his swords, Lloyd threw himself at his opponent, attempting—and failing—a tackle. Kratos tossed him aside, casually holding his sword towards his neck. "Lesson one: don't let your emotions control you." He stepped back. "When you get angry, you lose control of yourself. You leave openings."

Lloyd spit sand out of his mouth, panting. Damn… he was being humiliated! "What do you know, anyway," he muttered angrily.

"Lloyd, you need to eliminate your vulnerabilities if you want to survive this journey."

"Just because you're a little better than me, you have to talk like you know everything."

"Kid," Yuan smirked, "he's a hell of a lot better than you."

Infuriated, Lloyd snapped, "Who are you to talk? I haven't seen you do anything."

"That's because I have better things to do." He stood up, brushing himself off carelessly. "I'm headed back to the inn."

"Bastard…" Lloyd muttered under his breath as he retrieved his swords.

"Calm yourself, Lloyd."

"I'm out of here." He bent to retrieve his swords.

"Giving up already?" Kratos' voice was soft, his lip curled in disgust.

"I'm not giving up!" Lloyd flared. "But I'm not just going to sit here and take this while you humiliate me!"

Kratos sighed. "I'm not attempting to humiliate you, Lloyd. If you don't want to accept my advice, I can't force you. However, you'll never become stronger if you do not learn from your mistakes."

Lloyd was fuming, but a small part of him knew Kratos was right. Actually, that small part was angering him more than Kratos. "Fine," he snapped. "I'll stay."

"Lloyd…"

The teen took a deep breath. "Yeah, calm, I know." After a moment, he turned back to the mercenary, marginally more relaxed. "So, what's lesson number two?"

"Pay attention." With that, Kratos effortlessly disarmed him again; his swords landed a few feet away. "You need to focus on your opponent."

Lloyd all but growled at the man; he stared back dispassionately. "Retrieve your weapons." Lloyd grudgingly did as he was told.

…

After a few more hours and many more bruises, they returned to the inn to find everyone else already awake.

"Lloyd, where've you been?" Genis called from the table where he and Colette were eating breakfast.

"Training," Lloyd groaned as he collapsed in a chair, stealing a couple pancakes from his elven friend's plate and stuffing them into his mouth; he hadn't eaten before sneaking out this morning, and he was starved.

"Really, it looks more like you were rolling in the sand," Genis replied, scowling at his friend.

"Yeah, that about sums it up…" The signature red of his jacket was almost completely obscured by the thick coating it had acquired from all the times he was tossed to the ground. "Why did I agree to that again?"

"Because otherwise the Professor would have been worried." Colette smiled cheerily as the munched her syrup-drenched breakfast.

"Hurry up, Lloyd, we need to leave soon," the silver-haired teacher snapped.

"Seriously? I only just got back, I'm tired!"

"Then you shouldn't have been out so early."

Lloyd sighed; it wasn't like it was his fault, it was all Kratos.

"Cheer up, kid," Skah said as he playfully shoved the teen. "After all, we're heading to that Seal thing, right? That's gotta be pretty cool."

Lloyd grinned. Yeah, this sounded like it was going to be fun…

Lloyd was wrong. By the time they had reached the ruins, he was tired, thirsty, and drenched in sweat. "So… hot…" He collapsed against the broken wall of the structure. "I'm sick of this desert."

"Hey twerp, you owe me ten Gald, told you he wouldn't make it to the Seal before he got bored."

Genis dug in his pocket for the coins as Skah smirked triumphantly. Lloyd was about to protest to being the subject of their bets when Noishe whined.

"Oh crap, I think there are monsters—" he started to say, but stopped when he realized that the subject of his pet's fear seemed to be… the Professor.

"MARVELOUS!"

Her companions turned as one to stare at her; her hands were clenched into fists, arms held up against her chest, as she surveyed the ruins. "This is absolutely _fantastic_!"

"Uh… Genis, what's wrong with your sister?" Skah asked slowly as the woman sprinted forwards, up the stairs.

The boy's reply was drowned out by excited, high-pitched squeals from ahead of them.

"Look at this slab covering the entrance! It's clearly of a different composition than the surrounding stone!"

Yuan sighed. "We'd better go make sure she doesn't hurt herself or something…" Despite his words, he looked rather wary of approaching the Professor.

At the top of the stairs, she was currently practically sprawled on the ground, feeling the rock beneath her. "This is polycarbonate, developed during the Ancient War to defend against magic! Oh, feel the smooth surface! It's _wondrous_!"

Unaware of the frightened looks of her companions, she continued to gush over the ruins.

Skah's vermillion eyes were wide. "That is messed up."

"If I didn't know better," Yuan commented, "I'd say she's turned on."

Colette tilted her head to the side. "She's what?" No one bothered to answer her.

"…Is she always like this?" Kratos asked after a pause.

Genis' face was bright red; he wasn't meeting the inquiring gazes focused on him.

"Is she?" Lloyd repeated.

His friend sighed. "I've been trying so hard to hide it, too."

Raine bent to examine a pedestal in the center of the platform. "Hmm? This depression… It reads, 'oracle stone'." She straightened and turned to face them. "Colette, place your hand here. That should reveal the entrance."

The blonde did as instructed, and sure enough, the slab slid back, revealing a set of steep stairs descending underground.

"It opened! Wow! I guess I'm really the Chosen after all!"

"Uh, girl, I think we had already figured that one out," Skah muttered sarcastically.

Lloyd grinned. "Okay, _now_ it's getting exciting! Let's hurry up and go inside!"

"NO!" The Professor's dark blue eyes were huge. "We are not going inside until I am finished studying these glorious ruins!"

There was a long silence in which everyone stared at her in shock; Lloyd, Skah, and Yuan took the opportunity to back up a few steps, eager to get away from her apparent mania.

"Ms. Sage, it would be best to get to the Seal as quickly as possible," Kratos stated.

"I am not going anywhere until I have finished my research!"

"Raine," Genis tried to persuade her, "There'll be more ruins on the inside; you can see those on the way…" His sister's glare was more than enough to silence him.

"Well then, I guess we stay put." Yuan slumped against one of the walls. "Who wants lunch?"

There was an immediate chorus of "me" from the younger half of the group. The blue-haired man pulled open one of the packs Noishe had been carrying, searching for food.

"What the hell is this?" He looked up from the bag in disgust. "There's nothing edible in here!"

Lloyd snatched the bag to take a look. "What are you talking about? We've got a ton of jerky here, that's good…"

"Maybe for you," he grumbled back, leaning against the wall again. "I, on the other hand, don't eat meat."

Lloyd's jaw dropped. "You… don't… what?" He had never heard of anything so crazy in his life.

"Yuan's a vegetarian," Kratos replied as he pulled a few rolls out of another pack and tossed them to the man in question.

"But… why?" Lloyd was still bewildered. How could you not eat meat? That was just… wrong, somehow.

"Excuse me if I don't want to consume the carcass of some slaughtered animal," Yuan huffed, turning his head away as if offended. His aqua-hued hair swished around his ears, which Lloyd realized, for the first time, were pointed.

Apparently he wasn't the only one. "What's with the pointy ears, Blue?" Skah asked suddenly.

"What about them?" he calmly replied.

Colette looked over in surprise; Genis looked almost worried.

"Well?" Skah said expectantly.

"What, do they bother you? Morally offensive? Those two have them too." The man nodded towards the Sage siblings.

"Oh, are you an elf like Genis and the Professor?" Colette inquired.

Yuan raised a thin eyebrow. "Half-elf, actually."

"Like those damn Desians, you mean," Skah muttered.

"I would appreciate it if you didn't compare me to them." Yuan's voice had turned to ice; his emerald eyes were piercing slits.

"Leave it alone, Skah," Lloyd said as the blond opened his mouth again. When the blood-red gaze turned to him, he repeated, "Just drop it."

Both Yuan and Kratos looked at the teen in surprise, but they kept silent. Lloyd still felt awkward with all the eyes on him. "So, are we gonna eat or not?" he asked, grabbing a handful of jerky. Luckily, his companions followed suit.

…

Two hours later, they had not moved. The Professor was still in the newly named "Ruin-Mode", and wasn't showing any signs of stopping.

"Hey Shorty," Skah muttered, "go shut your sister up."

"I tried already," Genis sighed. "I think we just have to let her finish."

"I think that's gonna take a while…" There was a collective sigh from the group in general as they watched the ecstatic elf flit around the area, examining bits of rock and taking notes.

Suddenly, Noishe stood up, fur on end, whining.

"Noishe, what's wrong?" Lloyd asked, but then his dog bolted, making him realize the problem.

Kratos came to the same conclusion. "Be on your guard," he stated softly as he looked around.

Lloyd pulled out his swords, spotting the approaching monsters. "Here we go," he muttered.

Genis immediately started casting; Lloyd ran brashly forward, focused on the fire elemental on the right; Kratos charged its twin on the left. Colette, staying slightly farther back, threw her a chakram at Lloyd's monster; the metal made a clean slice along its side, but did no serious damage.

Skah had by this point joined Lloyd in the fight, and between the three of them finished their opponent fairly quickly. Genis let off a water spell on the remaining elemental, Colette sliced at its back as the swordsmen hacked away. Well, in Lloyd's case at least; Kratos and Skah pulled off their attacks with more grace.

While the battle was over fairly quickly, without a healer backing them, the younger members of the group had taken a mild amount of damage. "This is going to be a nuisance," Kratos muttered to himself as he sheathed his sword.

"Talk about it," Yuan replied, still leaning against the wall.

Lloyd glared at him. "You shut up; I didn't see you helping at all!"

"I'll help when I'm actually needed, but until then…" Yuan shrugged nonchalantly. "It's more fun to watch you struggle."

"Oh, thanks a lot, Blue." Skah glared at the man.

Kratos pointedly ignored the both of them, turning to the others in the party. "It would be a good idea for you to learn techniques to protect yourselves."

Colette looked at him curiously. "Are you talking about self-defense training?"

"Something like that. Techniques to raise your defense during battle."

"Cool!" Lloyd exclaimed, eager to learn the new skills. He was unaware of Skah and Genis behind him as they quietly bet on how long his enthusiasm would last.

Once again, Skah won, having bet low. Within five minutes, Lloyd was groaning as he tried again—and failed—to create the bubble-like shield that Kratos had demonstrated.

The teen's shoulders slumped as he watched Genis, who was having no problems with the technique… Stupid magic user had it easy. Then again, Skah didn't use magic, and he had managed the skill on his first try. At least Colette was having the same troubles he was.

After another failed attempt, he was debating just giving up for now. "Damn… am I just not strong enough?" he muttered to himself.

"It has nothing to do with your strength, Lloyd," Kratos said quietly from behind him, making him jump.

Lloyd hung his head, his face flushed. "Then why can't I do it?" he asked as he watched Colette manage a mostly transparent force field. Sure, it wasn't actually _good_, it wouldn't hold up to an attack, but it was more than he had managed.

Yuan, from a short ways away, called, "Because you're an idiot."

Lloyd felt his face growing even hotter. "Ignore Yuan," Kratos said. "He's rather _insensitive_about these things."

"That coming from you?" Lloyd muttered. Kratos ignored it.

"Techniques such as these are easier for those who are accustomed to manipulating mana," he explained.

"Then how come Skah can do it?"

Kratos' eyes narrowed slightly as he watched the younger swordsman conjure a barrier the color of the setting sun. "He would be the exception, not the rule."

"I bet you got it right away…" Lloyd was ashamed of himself; he had already gotten his ass handed to him this morning, and now he couldn't even do _this_…

"Quite the opposite, actually," Kratos murmured. Lloyd looked at him in surprise. "I couldn't grasp the concept at all."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously." The man smiled slightly, which frankly gave Lloyd the creeps. "You'll figure it out soon. Try again."

"Okay…" Lloyd closed his eyes so he could concentrate better instead of watching his friends' attempts. He focused on the image of the barrier, the shell that no one would be able to crack. Suddenly, he felt something like a surge of power course through him. His eyes shot open, only to see the world around him tinted slightly red. However, as soon as he realized this, it vanished.

"I— Did I do it?"

Kratos nodded slightly. "Practice a little more and it will be perfect."

The brunette nodded eagerly, tensing his muscles and calling on the power he had felt before.

"This is awesome!" Lloyd shouted when he actually managed to create a solid guard around himself. Genis grinned widely and nodded, currently enveloped in his own force field.

"What are you all doing?"

The Professor had finally reappeared on the scene, notes safely tucked beneath her arm.

"So good of you to join us," Kratos said coldly.

"What is going on here?"

Kratos folded his arms. "While you were _enjoying_yourself, Ms. Sage, we were attacked. It became apparent that your _students_," he practically spat the word, "did not have adequate knowledge of how to defend themselves. I merely remedied that."

Attempting to diffuse the tension, Lloyd added, "He showed us some really cool stuff, Professor! You should learn it too."

Her cerulean eyes narrowed as she looked at the man before her. "Well then, Mr. Aurion, please demonstrate."

Kratos eyed her for a moment before turning and heading for the entrance to the Seal. "Genis, if you would please show your sister what I taught you; I don't have the time to waste." Signaling for the rest of the group to follow, he led the way down the stairs and into the darkness.

Inside was little more than a hallway. Lloyd looked around, expecting to see monsters hiding in the shadows or more tunnels branching off the one they were in, but was disappointed. The single path only led farther on, with no end in sight. He ran to the front of the group, eager to see what was to come.

Eventually, they came to the end of their hallway. It split into two, circling a large central chamber. Seeing an archway directly ahead, Lloyd grinned. "C'mon," he shouted to his friends, running forward; he jerked back when Kratos grabbed hold of his collar, choking him. He coughed. "What was that for?"

"It would be dangerous to run ahead without any idea what you're doing," the older man stated calmly.

"But—" He stopped when he looked back and saw his teacher's face. "Oh shit, not again!" he moaned.

"This is fabulous!" She ran forward to examine the archway. "This is undeniable evidence that…" She went on and on, using words that made Lloyd's head hurt. Abruptly, she ran to the right, brushing off the soot-covered wall. "There are Angelic inscriptions here! Colette, come help me translate!" The blonde skipped over and happily assisted the Professor in reading what looked to Lloyd like a bunch of scribbles.

The Professor turned to face the rest of them, silver hair swishing with the sudden movement. "We must explore this area!"

Kratos sighed. "I suppose there's no stopping her…" he said under his breath. Then, louder, he complied. "It would be wise to know our surroundings."

So it happened that they found themselves walking round the circuitous corridors of the ruin, most of the party spacing while trying to stay as far from Raine as possible. As they wandered without anything happening, Lloyd felt his interest wane while the Professor droned on. Wasn't there supposed to be monsters or traps or _something_ interesting in here? If only something would happen, he was so _bored…_

Suddenly, he grinned. "Hey Colette, Genis, you wanna play ping?"

His oldest friends' faces lit up. "Sure!" Genis exclaimed. "Who's starting? Colette, you want to do the honors?"

"Okay. Lava, wall, Lloyd."

"Good ping," Lloyd said happily, already enjoying his other companions' reactions to his game.

"Not this again," the Professor sighed, putting a hand to her head. "I can feel a headache coming on already…"

"What exactly are we doing?" Skah had raised an eyebrow, looking at Lloyd like something had just sprouted off his face.

"It's called ping."

"And what do we do?"

"You have to figure out the rules for yourself." Lloyd's grin spread even wider as he thought ahead to all the hours of fun this would provide, what with having four people along who didn't know the game… "Here, we'll give you examples. Floor, Kratos, Professor, bad ping, okay? Colette, lava, Sorcerer's Ring, good ping. Got it?"

"What's the difference between a good and bad ping?"

"They won't tell you," the Professor commented. "He wants you to guess the rules on your own."

"Only one rule, Raine," Genis sing-songed from in front of them.

"I've been hearing them play for three years now and I still don't understand…"

Colette piped up. "Okay, block, torch, fire, good ping. Skah, Lloyd, Mr. Yuan, bad ping."

"Is it whether you have people in the ping?"

"Nope!" the three children chimed at once.

"The number of letters?"

"Definitely not, do you think Lloyd can count all the letters in what he says? He can't even spell most of it," Genis laughed. Lloyd mock-punched him.

"We'll give you a few more. Okay, swords, kendama, Kratos, good ping," Lloyd said, looking for more items to list. "Lava, Skah, bird monster, bad ping."

He, Colette, Skah, and Genis all performed the world's biggest double-take as they noticed the phoenix-like creature swoop down from its hiding place in the vaulted ceiling of the structure. "Oh, shit!" Lloyd exclaimed as he drew his swords.

As it turned out, there was no need to; before he could do anything, Kratos had drawn his blade and cut the creature down. Yuan, from behind, cast a small lightning spell, finishing the bird off.

"You should pay more attention to your surroundings instead of becoming so absorbed in your asinine game," the mercenary commented dryly before moving on.

"Hey, it's because of me we noticed it!" Lloyd exclaimed, ignoring how he didn't know what asi-whatever meant. He got no reply as the mercenary moved forward.

After a minute or so of silence, Skah said slowly, "How about this… moody mercenary, idiot swords-boy, freaky blue-hair. Good ping?"

"Nope, bad ping." Lloyd winced. "And insulting ping."

"Will the lot of you just _shut up_ already?" Yuan snarled, making Lloyd laugh. Honestly, they never played ping when it was only him, Colette, and Genis; the whole fun of the game was annoying the hell out of everyone around them.

"Okay, that was bad… what about psycho teacher, blond Chosen, teen swordsman-in-training?"

"I think that was a good ping!" Colette squealed.

Genis smirked. "Not great, but it worked. But would it kill you to use actual _names_?"

"What was good about it?" Skah asked while ignoring Genis; his "good ping" was obviously accidental.

"You have to figure it out," Lloyd replied, teasingly shoving the older man. "Okay, me, you, me, good ping, okay? Colette, lava, Colette, good ping. Lava, Genis, me, bad ping."

Crimson eyes widened under a few stray locks of white-blond hair. "I think I might have gotten this… Okay, me, Blue, shrimp. Good ping?"

"Yes!" Lloyd laughed loudly; Skah was the first person to ever figure out the rules since they had started playing three years ago. Lloyd had invented it, and he told Genis and Colette; they had remained the only people to understand the one rule. Now another had entered their midst.

"No," the Professor said, horrified. "You figured it out? I've been trying to understand this for _years_!"

"Haha, so you admit you _do_care, Raine!" Genis cried triumphantly, pointing at his sister.

She folded her arms and looked away, trying to look dignified, but after a few moments she looked back at Skah—ignoring her dislike of him—and softly asked, "Will you please tell me the point of this game?"

Skah smirked evilly. "Sorry, _Professor_, you have to figure it out on your own."

…

**Well, they've officially made it inside, at least… *sigh* This is taking longer than I thought it would.**

**Anyway, next chapter expect puzzles, battles, and a few more surprises… Review please?**


	5. What's this?

"What is this?" The Professor stooped down to examine a box that had been shoved into a dark corner of the ruins. The group had been following her helplessly for the past half-hour or so, and Lloyd was—of course—bored. Kratos, Yuan, and the Professor had banned their younger companions from their game of ping on threat of broken bones, much to Lloyd's disappointment.

The silver-haired teacher proceeded to reach for the box she had found. "Ahh!" She quickly pulled her hand back, cradling it to her chest. Lloyd saw blood. Then, to the entire group's shock, the box hopped forward, its lid open, revealing rows of gruesome, mangled teeth.

"What the hell?" Lloyd gaped open-mouthed at the scene before him for a moment before the sound of swords being unsheathed snapped him back into focus. Following Skah and Kratos forward, he slashed both of his swords in quick sequence, expecting the box to break. Instead he heard a horrible grating noise as metal struck some kind of shell. His eyes widened in fear as the box, unfazed, lunged forward, snapping at his legs. He stumbled backwards.

His companions' attacks weren't doing anything either; Kratos and Skah could hardly keep the box in one place, let along do any damage. Raine stood back, focused on healing her injured hand; her brother was next to her, distracted from casting by his worry for his sister. Meanwhile, Yuan's eyes had focused on their small enemy, closely scrutinizing it.

"This isn't freaking _working_!" Skah shouted as his sword bounced off the shell again.

"Aqua Edge!" Genis yelled, hitting the box with blades of water. The thing whimpered, hopping back from the attack.

Lloyd's eyes widened. "It's only hurt by magic!" he bellowed at his friend. "Keep casting!"

However, the second he had been distracted cost him. Furious from Genis' attack, the box leapt at him, and he couldn't get out of the way fast enough. He cried out as the thing's ragged fangs sunk into his calf, though his boot. He fell backwards, frantically—and futilely—trying to kick the thing off.

"Lloyd!" He heard his friends' voices over the angry shrieks of the box. He screamed as it gnawed on his leg, jagged edges of teeth mutilating his leg. He dropped his swords and clawed at it, trying to pry its jaws open.

Genis and Colette stood by horrorstruck; Genis wanted to attack, to save his best friend, but couldn't get at the monster without hitting Lloyd in the process. Raine hysterically cast First Aid, trying to prevent permanent damage to his leg. Yuan looked calculating; calmly focused on the teen and the creature.

"Get… off!" Lloyd half-grunted, half-moaned as the box wedged its teeth deeper into his leg, ripping through muscle. He felt tears streaming from his eyes and didn't care; his fingers grasped at the thing's "mouth", slipping off as he tried again and again to pull it off his leg.

Suddenly Skah was there, crouching beside him with a dagger. He jabbed the blade at the box, attempting to wedge it underneath the lid and force it off. However, the edge slipped, slicing instead into Lloyd's already bloody leg.

"Get out of the way; you're only doing more damage." Kratos shoved the blonde to the side, kneeling in front of Lloyd, hands wrapping around the monster's mouth. Lloyd could see where the teeth cut the mercenary's fingers. Grunting, he yanked the jaws apart, swiftly pulling the box off and away from the teen. He backed away, its teeth now clenched on his left hand. "Yuan, now!"

"Indignation!" The runes that had circled the floor around the half-elf disappeared, and the air in the corridor became charged with electricity about to be released.

"Guardian!" Kratos shouted. A blue shield enveloped him, protecting him from the incoming attack, but he held his hand—along with the box—outside of the circle of protection. Purple lightning struck, centered on the creature. It quickly fanned outward, frying the box; its screams were barely audible over the crash of thunder that accompanied the attack. The decimated thing dropped on the ground, still crackling with electricity.

"Raine, take care of Lloyd," Kratos panted slightly as he returned to the teen's side.

"I'm already on it," she replied, kneeled next to Lloyd, gels in hand, as she cast First Aid again. "Do you have a knife?" she then asked the mercenary, scaring the hell out of Lloyd.

"What do you need a knife for, Professor?"

Hearing his frightened tone, she smiled reassuringly, her azure eyes softening. "Don't worry," she said as she took the offered knife from Kratos. She deftly cut away the ripped portion of his pants and worked his practically ruined boot off, exposing the wounds. As she surveyed the damage done, she kept her face calm for Lloyd, even though she wanted to cringe at the sight. She gently placed her hands on the boy's torn skin, rubbing an apple gel into the gashes and carefully examining the depth of the tears in the muscle.

"Lloyd, are you all right?" Colette asked anxiously as she and Genis pressed closer to their friend.

Raine did not want her brother or the Chosen to see the bloody sight before them; they still had a modicum of innocence left, and she would preserve that for as long as possible. They did not need to see this.

"Stay back," Kratos commanded them softly. "Give them room."

Raine smiled a small thanks to the man; he nodded, showing his understanding of the situation. "Lloyd, why don't you lay back," she quietly suggested. Lloyd nodded and slowly lowered himself until he was propped on his elbows, afraid to see what his leg looked like.

"Kratos, how's your hand?" he asked, remembering how the teeth ripped into the skin and the lightning attack it had suffered.

The mercenary had remained by Lloyd's side as Raine examined the wound, silently surveying the damage. At the teen's words, he glanced down at his hand, seeming to have forgotten his own injury. "I'll survive," he replied as he cast a small healing spell, fixing the worst of the burns and lacerations.

"That's… good." Lloyd winced as the Professor continued to massage the gels into his calf. He glanced at his wounds, immediately regretting it. From what he could see, he'd be lucky if he could walk again, let alone fight.

"You'll be fine," Kratos murmured, seeing his terror. "You teacher knows what she's doing."

"It looks bad," Lloyd whispered, not wanting to worry his friends, but shaking at the sight of what the creature had done to him. "It looks really bad…"

"Don't worry." Kratos rested his uninjured hand on Lloyd's shoulder.

Raine looked up at the two males, silently noting the warmth in Kratos' eyes. She cast a quick healing spell on the mercenary, taking him by surprise. His hand was now almost fully healed. In response to the glare he gave her—a glare that said, "Take care of the boy,"—she just shook her head. Her eyes moved to Lloyd, who was looking much paler than usual, whether from the fear, the blood loss, or both, she didn't know.

"Do we have any bandages?" she asked no one in particular, expecting everyone to listen. She was quickly handed a roll of clean linen by her brother; she nodded her thanks. "Now Lloyd, I'm going to start healing your leg while I bandage it; that will make sure the muscles align properly. But I'm warning you now, it's going to hurt."

Lloyd nodded and clenched his jaw, tensing. His leg hurt like hell already, but from the sounds of it, it was going to get worse.

"Kratos," Raine muttered, "you know some of the healing arts, do you not?" When the mercenary nodded, she continued, "Can you try to numb the pain while I heal him? I need to focus."

Raine closed her eyes, centering herself. She needed to be calm. She heard Kratos tell Lloyd to lie down; she opened her eyes to see him do as instructed for once.

Lloyd tensed even more when his teacher began the healing spell. His hands clenched into fists; the only reason he didn't cry out was that Colette and Genis were worried enough already and he didn't want to scare them more. He could feel how deep into his flesh the monster's teeth had sunk; he felt the muscles start to knit themselves back together. It was agony.

Slowly, he became aware of a hand gently running through his hair. The pain began to fade away: not gone, but not crippling. His body relaxed as the Professor continued her spell.

After a few tense minutes, Raine released the mana charging her spell and let go of her student's leg. "It's sufficiently healed now. You'll be able to walk, but until it has more time to heal, no fighting." Looking into her pupil's anxious eyes, she smiled. "You'll be back to normal soon, Lloyd, don't worry."

"Thanks, Professor," the teen murmured, sitting himself up. He pulled his leg up so he could see it: white linen covered his leg from just under the knee almost down to the ankle. He winced as he moved. It still stung a bit, but he'd manage. What he was worried about now was his apparel.

The right leg of his pants was cut off just above the knee, and his boot was ripped almost to shreds; he'd have to buy a new pair now, and he already owed Kratos money… ugh. Pulling what remained of his boot back on, he groaned. "I look like crap!"

Skah laughed. "It's not much worse than how you looked before."

"Sh-shut up!" Lloyd tried to get up, but his leg collapsed under him. Kratos caught him before he hit the floor.

"Can you walk?" he asked softly.

Lloyd tested his weight on his leg, then nodded hesitantly. "I think so." He carefully took a few steps, and although he had to limp a bit, found himself able to get around without too much trouble.

"Let's go find the Seal," he said, faking enthusiasm for his friends' sake. On the inside, he was utterly furious at himself; he wouldn't be any help at all now.

Skah nodded. "Yeah, let's hurry up and get this shit over with." Noticing everyone's eyes on him, he shrugged. "What? I don't like it in here, and the kid should probably be resting or something instead of wandering around in this place."

Reluctantly, Raine nodded, her Ruin Mode abandoned in concern for Lloyd. "Yes, we should move on."

After backtracking slightly, the party walked through one of the immense archways into a huge dome. Interlacing the room were a multitude of raised platforms built above a floor of churning lava. The temperature, which before had been stifling, shot higher by at least ten degrees. The molten rock below them lit the cavern with a vermillion glow; the up-lit faces of the Regeneration group suddenly seemed sinister.

"Well," Yuan said in a monotone, "we're here, we may as well get moving."

They unenthusiastically followed his advice; the heat of the room made them unwilling to put forth much effort.

From what Lloyd could tell, the whole place was just a big maze. They constantly walked up and down stairs, frequently backtracking when they hit dead ends. Luckily, the few monsters they saw for the most part avoided them, so he didn't have to try to fight on his injured leg, but even just walking around made his calf burn.

"Lloyd, are you okay?" Colette asked from beside him after ascending yet another flight of stairs.

"Don't worry about me," he replied, the usual grin plastered across his face, although he felt more like grimacing. However, after more uselessly wandering across the cavern, even his pain wasn't enough to distract him. He was bored again.

"This is pointless!" he exclaimed. "We're not getting anywhere like this!"

"The kid's right," Skah agreed. "This isn't doing anything."

"Well, what do you suggest?" Raine countered. "If you see another way through here, feel free to point it out. Until then, we don't have another option."

"If you're so smart, why don't _you_think of something?"

"Professor, Skah, can you please stop fighting?" They both turned to the Chosen, who was watching them somberly. "That's not helping."

Raine looked away, slightly ashamed. "You're right, Colette." She turned away, only to catch sight of a slight depression in one of the walls—rather, a side of a taller platform—near them. "What's that?"

"Oh, no," Lloyd muttered, stepping back. "That's what she said before she found the evil box…"

"It's a sconce," Yuan supplied, approaching the elf from behind.

The Professor frowned slightly. "Hmm, I wonder…" She turned around. "Lloyd, do you still have the Sorcerer's Ring?"

Lloyd's russet eyes lit up. "Yeah!" He aimed the ring at the wall and fired. As the depression was lit and the fuel caught fire, a nearby platform suddenly, with a horrendous grating noise, heaved itself out of the lava and higher in the air.

"That's it!" the Professor exclaimed. "We just need to find the rest and then we can find the Seal!"

They hurriedly set out to accomplish their task. Kratos, from behind them, noted Lloyd's enthusiasm, attributing it to the fact that he now had something productive to do. He trailed after his charge and her companions, eyes scouring their path for enemies. Meanwhile, Yuan fell into step beside him.

"The kid has some pretty rotten luck," he commented.

Kratos made no reply as he watched the teen light another torch recessed in the stone.

"You acted too protective back there."

"I know, Yuan." His voice was cold; he didn't need the half-elf to tell him that. He had been silently berating himself for it since they had entered this cavern. He had acted without thinking. He should not have showed he cared, he shouldn't have _cared_in the first place, however… when he saw Lloyd in danger, _his son_ hurt, there was nothing else he could do. He closed his eyes for a moment, composing himself. He needed to drop that mentality as soon as possible, otherwise… it couldn't end well.

"You almost blew your cover," the blue-haired man stated.

"I _know_, Yuan," he hissed back, his hand itching to draw his sword on his "friend".

"Calm down! You're acting like it was _me_ that was trying to eat your kid—"

"_Shut up!"_Kratos glanced around quickly, searching for signs that anyone had heard.

"Relax. None of them are paying attention to us."

It was true; Lloyd was happily shooting the Sorcerer's ring, Colette and Genis watched in excitement as yet another platform moved. The Professor seemed to be fighting the urge to examine the device to learn how it functioned; Skah impatiently followed the platforms with his eyes, tracing the way to the highest point in the room, where the transporter to the Seal was located.

"I think that's all of them," the blond man said with a smirk. "Looks like we're almost done in here…"

"So now do we just follow the paths?" Genis asked, looking up at the platforms.

"Guess so." Lloyd shrugged. "Let's go!"

The adults sighed at the brunette's eagerness, but followed when he and Skah led the way. They scurried up stairs and across pathways, Lloyd doing his best to keep pace despite the pain in his leg. After a while, he realized that they weren't seeing many monsters around. He would have thought there would be more of them in here… but he saw even fewer of them than in the forest at home. When he pointed it out to Skah, the man merely shrugged.

"They're afraid of my awesome might," he replied with a smirk.

"Oh, yeah, right," the brunette said mockingly. "Are you sure they don't just see your face and run?"

"Can it, cripple."

Their banter halted abruptly when they reached the top of the final flight of stairs. In front of them on the ground was a huge glowing circle; it lit the platform with a lavender shine. Shapes seemed to undulate beneath its glassy surface; giving the impression of an oasis in the center of the lava-filled chamber.

"So that's it?" Lloyd asked as the others caught up.

"It's a warp pad," the Professor stated. "We step on it, and it should take us to the Seal."

Lloyd hesitantly walked forward and was the first to reach the device. He gasped as the room around him disappeared along with his friends, and in front of him he saw an enormous chamber, what looked like some kind of stage or altar at the front. He stepped forward as Skah materialized behind him, followed by his other companions.

The Professor's eyes lit up. "This place is also built with magitechnology! Absolutely fantastic!"

"Well, Miss Chosen," Skah said, "what are you waiting for?"

Colette blushed and nervously stepped forward into the room, but as she approached the altar, it began to glow strangely.

"Chosen, look out!" Kratos yelled before a huge beast materialized, two smaller creatures emerging from behind it. Colette jumped back in surprise, falling over in the act. Lloyd swore and ran forward to help. However, when he reached her, the beast circled behind him, blocking him off. He turned to run the other way, but the smaller monsters stayed on that side, effectively trapping the two teens.

"Oh, shit…" Lloyd stared up at the cat-like thing before him. It glowed dimly, red skin rippling over countless muscles. Huge spikes extended from its skull and continued down its back, and its tail swished lazily behind it; the appendage looked dangerous on its own, _and_he had to watch out for the teeth and claws… He was screwed.

Straightening up, he pulled out his swords and held them at the ready, waiting for any of his foes to make a move. If there was one thing he had learned so far from Kratos' brief lessons, it was don't charge the opponent; that only got you hurt.

"Indignation!" Lightning struck the huge cat-monster just before it pounced. It howled in pain, temporarily paralyzed. Before it had a chance to recover, Lloyd grabbed onto Colette's wrist and ran as fast as his hurt leg would allow him. The smaller beasts leapt after them.

As luck would have it, Colette tripped as soon as they were past the huge feline, dragging Lloyd down too. His leg had started bleeding through the bandages, but before he could dwell on that he was distracted by the monsters crouched to spring on him.

A swish of purple and Kratos stood in front of him and Colette, blocking the attacks. "Get back," he commanded as Lloyd hauled himself to his feet. Realizing that in his state retreat was the best option, Lloyd pulled Colette back from the fight.

Meanwhile, Genis had begun casting. An ice spell temporarily froze one of the small cat's legs to the ground, giving Colette and Lloyd more time to scramble away. Raine cast First Aid on Lloyd's leg, which stopped the bleeding and a fair amount of the pain. Skah had charged the large beast while Yuan circled behind it holding a huge double-ended blade; Kratos kept busy the small cat that hadn't been hit by the ice as Lloyd and Colette tried to distract the one that had; Lloyd taunted the beast to get its attention as Colette threw her chakrams.

The Professor began another spell, but was interrupted when the ice encasing the monster's foreleg broke and it leapt at her and her brother, aggravated by the attack. Genis hit the thing with his kendama, but the tiny toy-like weapon did little in actual combat, and the Sage siblings couldn't get a spell out before the beast would slash its claws.

Genis summoned a force field as the monster charged; the sharp claws scraped against the shield, which soon faltered. "Help!" Raine shouted as she lashed out with her staff. Lloyd wanted to answer her, but his leg prevented him from being of any real use. Colette tossed a chakram at the monster, creating a large gash on its hind leg, but it ignored her, focusing on the prey in front of it.

"Skah!" Lloyd yelled; the blond swordsman was closest to the elves, he could protect them. However, the man's red eyes flashed to the siblings without showing any emotion and he continued his battle with the gargantuan cat.

Raine cried out as she was knocked back; Genis shouted and started attacking with renewed vigor. However, his efforts were useless: the feline ignored him and advanced on his sister as Lloyd watched.

Yuan swore, dodged the swinging tail of the giant beast, then ducked under it to run to the elves' aid. With a few quick slashes of his swallow, the beast was down. He reached out and pulled the silver-haired woman to her feet. "You can thank me later," he said quickly, before glancing back at her and adding, "maybe tonight…" Lloyd, from across the room, scowled at the man.

She glared at him, tugging her hand away. "Focus on the battle," she commanded. Yuan sighed disappointedly and rushed back into the fight.

Kratos, meanwhile, had taken down the other small cat and joined in the larger fray. This monster was proving to be more difficult than its companions; despite the many gashes and small cuts, it seemed to be at full strength. Yuan cast another lightning spell; the monster froze in pain, leaving a short opening for Kratos and Skah to attack relentlessly. It soon recovered, however; yowling, its tail whipped around, knocking back Yuan, who had just approached, and forcing Kratos and Skah to retreat for a moment.

Colette ran brashly forward, ready to help her friends. Lloyd made a grab for her arm, but didn't move fast enough; she was already out of his reach. Leaving herself fully open for attack, she charged through the center of the room.

"Chosen, get back!" Kratos shouted as the floor around the monster began to glow. Suddenly it released a spell, and the glow disappeared from around the cat and transferred to the ground below Colette.

Lloyd and the mercenary reached the blonde at the same moment; they both pulled her away just as the spell hit. Kratos supported the girl so she wouldn't trip as he dragged her out of reach of the eruption taking place in the spot she had been a second ago. Once the spell finished its course, the man left the Chosen to Lloyd with the simple command of "Protect her," before rushing back into battle.

A couple more ice spells from Genis and more attacks from the swordsmen and the fight was over; the feline collapsed and, before their eyes, fell to ash. The altar immediately began to glow once more.

"Chosen of Regeneration," a solemn voice echoed through the room, "Offer your prayers at the altar."

Colette nodded, murmured, "Yes, my lord." She slowly walked forward to the seal and knelt before it. "Goddess Martel, great protector and nurturer of the earth, grant me thy strength!"

With a spectacular show of light, the angel from the temple in Iselia appeared, white wings fanning gently as he hovered above the altar. The intense illumination blurred the features of his face as he spoke. "Colette, my dear daughter, you have done well."

Colette bowed her head. "Thank you …Father," she said hesitantly.

"The guardian of the seal has fallen," his deep voice intoned, "and the first seal has been released. Efreet will surely awaken soon. In the name of Cruxis, I shall grant you the power of the angels."

"Thank you, my lord," she said, her head still lowered.

The silver radiance surrounding the altar intensified, engulfing the Chosen. Within the glow, a small golden light descended towards her, hovering above her Cruxis Crystal. Colette gasped as it merged into her body; she could feel her muscles tighten and heat. Suddenly, the tension released through her back. Pink rays of light burst out of her, coalescing into wings, wings made of solid light. They fluttered without her conscious thought directing them. She rose in the air to meet the angel before her.

"The angel transformation will not be without pain," he said. "Yet, it is for but one night. Be strong and endure."

"I humbly accept this trial."

"The next seal lies far to the east, across the sea. Offer your prayers at that altar."

His voice, although warm, held no real emotion. "Yes, Lord Remiel," she replied.

At her words, the angel vanished. However, his voice rang out one more time. "I shall await you at the next seal, Chosen of Regeneration, my beloved daughter, Colette."

The ethereal glow faded away as she descended, landing gently on the stone floor. However, the rose-hued light emanating from her new appendages remained.

"Colette… has wings!" Lloyd exclaimed, his jaw hanging open.

She giggled happily, enjoying the feeling of air brushing past the pink feathers. "Uh-huh, and look, I think I can put them away, too." She tensed her back, concentrating on the feeling of light that had come just before the wings. Almost instantly, she felt warmth as her wings dissipated into nothing, yet she could still feel them in her back.

Genis' face lit up. "Oh, wow! That's so cool!"

Colette beamed. "Here, look, look!" She released her wings before retracting them again, then drew them out once more. Her younger friend laughed gleefully as she flapped her wings quickly, hovering just above the ground.

Lloyd, however, had something else on his mind as a grin spread across his face. "He said the next place is across the sea! That means we get to sail on a ship! I can't wait!"

The Professor paled a little. "A ship…hmm. I wonder if there are any ships sailing with the way things are right now."

"Hey, what's up with this?" Skah's voice called out from a ways away. Lloyd turned to see the swordsman standing behind the altar, looking at the back wall.

"What's up with what?" Lloyd asked, joining him, his other companions following.

The blonde pointed at the huge golden trident-like pillars that lined the wall. "They look kinda out of place, don't they? And I think there's some writing here…"

"What writing?" The Professor pushed past her brother and pupils to examine the wall. "More Angelic!" she exclaimed blissfully. "Colette, come help me translate!"

The girl smiled and skipped forward, but, as usual, tripped over her own feet and sprawled forward, knocking into the bottom of one of the pillars. She gasped as it sunk in slightly, thinking she had broken it. Suddenly, the seemingly solid wall formed a thin crack down the middle, splitting and opening. The group gaped as they saw the passageway open before them.


	6. Triet again

**Before we get into things, I would like to thank my friend MysticYoshie, who was invaluable in the construction of this chapter. I don't know what I would have done without her. Holy crap, I feel like I just won an Oscar or something and am giving a speech.**

**On with the story.**

…

The group hesitantly walked through a narrow corridor. They had _finally_ gotten past the pointless trials, and had opened the door in the back of the seal chamber. It had been surprisingly easy to mask his intentions.

_They stood gaping at the doorway._

"_Did I break it?" Colette asked quietly._

_The Professor shook her head. "No, Colette. There seems to be a deeper part of this temple! We must explore it!"_

_Lloyd grinned widely. "Let's go!"_

"_Shouldn't we head back out?" Yuan asked. "You've done enough on that leg of yours, Lloyd; you shouldn't be wandering around anymore." He seemed hesitant to enter; his green eyes narrowed as he searched the dark confines of the passage ahead._

_The teen shook his head vehemently. "I'm fine! I wanna see where this goes!" he insisted. The silver-haired teacher seemed to agree with him; her eyes gleamed manically as she looked into the dark hallway before her._

"_It wouldn't be wise," Kratos stated. "We have released the seal; we should head back to the surface."_

"_I don't think we can talk Raine out of it…" Genis muttered, watching his sister._

"_Come on," the Chosen insisted. "It'll be fun!"_

_Skah grumbled a little, but didn't put up any argument._

So here they were; Raine led the way followed closely by her three pupils, and Skah followed slightly behind them, tuning out the woman's babble. Kratos and Yuan followed behind. He could feel their eyes on him, no doubt suspicious. Those two picked up on more than the rest of the group, not that he expected any less of _them_. The teacher didn't like him either—not that he had done anything to prevent that, really—and while she didn't trust him, she didn't seem quite as wary as the two men. Not that it mattered much, because as far as he could tell, if he kept the children on his side, he was safe. Still, he should probably do a better job of acting…

"This is insane," he complained. "It's even hotter in here than it was back there!"

"Come on, Skah," Lloyd replied, "it can't be much farther."

"Yeah, sure." He crossed his arms.

"Look at that, Professor!" Colette pointed forward, down the stairs, at a structure that looked remarkably similar to the altar in the room above. However, she had no need to point it out, for her teacher had already seen it and was running forward.

"What is it? It sparkles so magnificently!" she cried as she stopped in front of the platform, spotting a ruby-colored teardrop that floated above the dais.

"I think we should just leave it alone and go back."

Raine turned to look at Yuan in disgust. "And just leave this here, when we could gain so much knowledge from it?"

Yuan snorted. "You can't even tell what it is. For all you know, it could burn you as soon as you touch it. Just leave it alone. Didn't what happened to Lloyd earlier teach you anything?" The elf woman cringed slightly at that.

Meanwhile, Lloyd was looking at the jewel, eyes wide in curiosity. He reached out grab it…

"Lloyd!" Kratos snapped.

The brunette dropped his arm and guiltily turned around. "What? I wanna see what it is!"

Kratos glared in response, which was enough to quiet the teen.

Suddenly, Colette gasped, dropping to her knees, her face pale.

"Woah, you okay?" asked Skah, who was nearest.

"I'm…fine," she panted, trying to smile.

Genis was the next to her side. "You don't look fine at all! Your face is completely white! It's all my fault, I made you keep pulling your wings out…"

Lloyd frowned slightly. "I don't think that has anything to do with it."

"Now's not the time for that!" Raine said, feeling her student's temperature. "Her lips are turning purple. We must get her to a doctor in the city immediately."

"Wait. It's best not to move her," Kratos said. Everyone turned to look at him in surprise.

"What do you mean?" Lloyd asked angrily. "If Colette's sick, she needs to be treated!"

"Remember the angel's words," the mercenary replied. "The angel transformation process requires her to overcome a trial. Rather than taking her to a doctor, it would be better to let her rest here."

"Yes, let's just take her up top," Yuan said, nodding his head.

"I'm okay," Colette insisted. "I'll be fine after a little rest. I'm sorry to cause so much trouble…"

"Stop apologizing, you dork! It's not like you can help it. You were suddenly turned into an angel."

"You're right… I'm sorry."

The group just sighed.

"Well, anyway," Lloyd said after a small pause, "should we just stay down here for the night, or should we try to get back out?"

"I say we head out," Yuan stated without hesitation. "There could be all sorts of monsters down here."

Kratos nodded. "It would be best to leave, as long as the Chosen doesn't object."

"I don't think we should move…" Genis said uncertainly. "I mean, if Colette doesn't feel good, she shouldn't have to go all the way back up, right?"

"I'll be okay," the blond girl insisted, much to the doubt of most of her companions.

"I agree with Kratos and Yuan," Raine said reluctantly. "It wouldn't be safe to remain here."

"But Professor, what about your precious _research_?" Skah scoffed at her, easily seeing her indecision about leaving the chamber before she had properly examined it.

"Leave it alone," Yuan snarled as he saw Lloyd eye the floating gem again. "You don't even know what it does."

"But…" Lloyd looked at it longingly; Yuan was right, he had no idea what it was, but he was itching to find out.

"You guys are all pansies." Skah quickly strode to the platform and snatched the jewel from the air. "There. The world didn't end, now did it? Can we leave now?" He pocketed the stone as he walked past the lot of them and made for the stairs. When they didn't follow, he turned back. "Are you coming? I thought we agreed to get out of here." He turned again, and this time, his companions followed.

…

They had set up camp just outside the ruins; it was already twilight by the time they had gotten out, and they decided that it was safest to stay just beside the old stones. Noishe had found them as they started making dinner; the dog always came running when he smelled food.

The sun had just set, and already the temperature had dropped dramatically. Lloyd shivered a little, then moved closer to the fire. Weren't deserts supposed to be _hot_? Now it felt even colder than it had the first night after escaping the Desian base… It seemed quite a bit windier too, now that he thought about it. Hopefully there wouldn't be one of those sand storms the Professor had mentioned once…

"Hey Lloyd," Genis said as he sat down. "How was the tofu curry?"

"I think it was missing something," he replied, looking at his friend strangely.

"Wow, I'm surprised you noticed. But yeah, I didn't have all the ingredients."

"What do you mean, 'surprised'?" Lloyd scowled, before realizing something. "Wait, you mean _you_made it?"

"Of course."

"Oh, I thought it was the Professor…"

Genis paled a little, glancing nervously over the fire at his sister. "No way. Don't ever try to eat anything she touches. You wouldn't survive."

"She's _that_ bad?"

"Definitely. One time she tried to make cheesecake using peanut butter and raw egg, 'to add protein'. I got food poisoning."

"Seriously? I didn't think the Professor was actually _bad_ at anything…"

Genis gave him a weird look. "Geez, you sound like you think she's perfect or something."

Lloyd turned to Colette as she sat down on his other side. "Are you feeling any better?"

She smiled. "Yeah, I'm fine now. Sorry to make you worry."

"Stop apologizing," Lloyd commanded automatically. "Are you sure you're okay? You didn't eat anything for supper…"

"I just don't really have much of an appetite right now."

"You won't be able to keep up your strength if you don't eat, Colette."

"Stop pushing her, Lloyd," Genis interjected. "She'll eat when she's hungry."

Colette smiled. "Don't worry, Lloyd."

The brunette's face suddenly lit up. "Oh, right! I finished your birthday present, Colette. It's kinda late, but…" Lloyd turned and dug through his bag, pulling out a finely-crafted, delicate golden necklace. A small ruby was set in it. He held it out to her.

She took it, then her face fell. "Oh no, it's broken…"

"What? When did that happen?" Lloyd took the necklace back, examining the damage. The chain had been slightly mangled and twisted, and there was a tiny crack in the ruby. "I'm so sorry, I'll make you a new one, Colette."

"Thanks, Lloyd." She smiled brightly, although it was somewhat strained. "I'm sorry that I keep causing trouble for you."

"What are you talking about?" Lloyd asked as he casually draped his arm around her shoulders. "I'm the one that always causes trouble. Stop blaming yourself."

Colette blushed madly.

…

Despite protests from Kratos, Yuan, and the Professor, Lloyd had volunteered to take first watch, accompanied by the cobalt-haired half-elf. However, Lloyd couldn't fathom why Kratos had decided to join them; watches didn't usually consist of more than two people.

Lloyd sat with his leg propped up by the fire, leaning against the sleeping Noishe; the combined warmth of his blanket, his dog, and the fire dulled the effects of the cold desert air. Kratos and Yuan were talking quietly across from him on the opposite side of the fire. He couldn't hear what they were saying over the crackling of flames on wood. Besides, it was _them_, it probably wasn't that interesting anyway…

He didn't notice he was falling asleep until he received a sound smack to the back of his head. Clutching his aching skull, he looked up to see an extremely displeased Yuan standing behind him.

"If you're going to insist on taking watch, the least you could do is stay awake."

Lloyd's face reddened and he looked away, only to meet the coolly amused face of Kratos across the fire. His demeaning enjoyment of the situation seemed almost worse and Lloyd quickly looked back at Yuan.

"Well, sorry, you guys are both so boring, what else could I do?"

"Boring, are we?" growled Yuan, "I'll teach you boring. Up!"

"W-what?"

"You heard me, up! Start circling!"

Kratos chuckled darkly. At Lloyd's confused stare, he explained, "When we were younger we traveled with a boy much like yourself. Whenever he fell asleep during watch, he would have to circle the campsite until his time was up."

"What? You can't be serious!"

Their satisfied smirks told him just how serious they were.

"But I've got a bad leg!"

"You were perfectly fine earlier when you wanted to explore deeper into the Temple, you're fine now. Get moving!"

Lloyd grumbled under his breath as he began to circle their makeshift campsite, aware of how both his companions' eyes followed him. His leg really wasn't bad at all, and he knew that he wouldn't be able to fake any more to try to get out of it. He had a strong feeling that neither Kratos nor Yuan would fall for it like the Professor might have. Then again, maybe she wouldn't have either.

Lloyd was furious at himself; his pride hurt a thousand times more than his leg. He had wanted to come on this journey to prove himself as well as to protect Colette, and so far he had accomplished neither. Besides that, Kratos and Yuan were the best warriors he had ever met, and he had managed to give them only an impression of inadequacy at best, and laziness at worst.

"What do you think Skah was thinking today?" Yuan growled softly to his companion, "Opening up that passage behind the altar, I'd say he knows more than he should."

"Hmm…"

Kratos gave no answer, but Lloyd jumped into the conversation immediately, curious. "What do you mean?"

Yuan's eyes focused on Lloyd's face and it seemed for a moment that he was not going to answer, then, with a slight change of expression, he stated, "When I examined the writing that he found, it was faint and blended perfectly with the rest of the writings in the altar room. There was nothing to make them more interesting than any other wall in there, yet he finds the one that opens into a further passage.

"Then, he stole a hidden artifact, one that is no doubt important to whomever or whatever placed it there. If you ask me, he _knew_ that it was there. If this continues, my suspicions will be confirmed."

"You think he _knew_?" Lloyd scoffed. "It seems like a lot of luck to me."

"There's no such thing as luck, Lloyd."

Kratos watched the exchange indifferently; any thoughts he might have had on the subject were masked behind his dark eyes.

Lloyd looked at Yuan for a long moment, his mind drifting to something that had been bothering him since their escapade into the ruins.

"Why did you stop me from grabbing the jewel on the altar? You freaked out and said that it could be dangerous, but when Skah touched it, he was just fine…"

"It's best to be cautious, Lloyd," Kratos stated calmly before Yuan could say anything. "Have you forgotten that box already?"

Lloyd blushed, even though it hadn't been his fault.

"I-I never did really thank you for that, did I Kratos?"

"It was nothing."

"But you totally fried your hand when Yuan did that electric spell."

"I am fine." Kratos held up his hand to show Lloyd that it had been totally healed and now showed no sign of the ravaged appendage it had been only hours earlier.

"Oh…" Lloyd trailed off, feeling stupid for worrying so much.

"You're welcome for finishing off that horrid Fake that tried to eat your leg. The enormous amount of mana consumed from my personal being in that lightning spell was nothing compared to your all-important health."

Kratos and Lloyd both turned to look at the blue-haired half-elf, eyeing him as Yuan's self-righteous smirk widened.

"Um… I got all of five words from that but… thanks?"

"No thanks is necessary, I assure you."

Lloyd had a feeling Yuan was kidding, fasitious… facetious … facetions… something like that.

…

"It's still kinda cold, isn't it?" Lloyd commented as they wandered past stalls, looking for anyone selling either shoes or apparel; he desperately needed new boots, and he was still wearing pants cut off at the right knee. After entering the town, they had split up: Lloyd, Colette, Genis, and Raine to find Lloyd new things while Kratos, Yuan, and Skah restocked on supplies. They were to meet back at the inn afterwards.

"It seems a little colder than before, but that could just be because we got used to the temperatures in the ruins," Genis replied.

"I don't know, it still seems pretty hot to me," Colette said.

"Really Colette, usually you're the first one to notice if it's cold. Remember when we were in the Temple in Iselia and you were shivering when we were just inside?" Lloyd looked at Colette oddly. "Are you sure you're alright? Do you still feel sick?"

"Let me feel your forehead, you might still have a fever." Raine moved in front of Colette and put her slender, pale hand to the girl's forehead. Lloyd and Genis crowded around, watching the exchange with worried looks in their eyes. "No fever…"

"No, really, Professor, I feel fine! I'm completely better." Colette giggled. It was that giggle that set off Lloyd's lie detector. She only giggled when she lied. There was only one way that Colette ever lied, and that was when she was she was sick. She would always lie if she was hurt or sick so as not to worry her friends.

Once, she got a tick and lied about its existence for over three months as she grew weaker and weaker and paler and paler. Finally, it was Lloyd who discovered it, hidden on the side of her neck, the size of a piece of gald from all the blood it had gotten. Colette had said that she didn't want it to be hungry. The Professor had removed the parasite and Colette had been healed, but no one ever believed the girl again when it came to physical health.

Still, Lloyd didn't call her out; if she didn't have a fever and she was still walking, there wasn't much to do. If she was sick, the Professor would sort her out soon enough. If it was something else, it would take time and more clues.

The group bobbed in and out of more stores looking for the right pair of shoes and pants for Lloyd and anything else that caught their fancy along the way. Raine had agreed to lend him the money for new clothes, as he still owed Kratos for his swords. He groaned silently; he was now deeply in debt.

They found a pair of red boots for Lloyd in one shop and grey pants that fit well a few stores later—Lloyd felt much better now that he wasn't walking around looking like he had been attacked by something, even though he had—and were preparing to head back when Colette had one of her inevitable clumsy moments: the Chosen tripped and went flying, bringing a girl that had been passing by down with her.

"Colette, are you alright? Are you alright, miss?"

"Oh, I'm so sorry! Are you okay? You're not hurt, are you?"

The girl looked up, blushing, and nodded slightly, "Yes, I'm fine, are you?"

"Oh, yes, thanks."

Colette, who had quickly righted herself after the fall, helped the other girl up. She was very short, almost shorter then Colette and nearly a head shorter than Lloyd. Her bright purple hair hung just below shoulder length and she was dressed in something that was obviously not from Triet. Actually, it was something that Lloyd had never seen before.

"My name is Colette," Colette said politely and then moved to the rest of the present party, "and this is Lloyd, Genis, and Professor Sage."

The girl bowed her head politely—this too was something Lloyd had never seen before—and introduced herself. "Sophie."

"It's really nice to meet you!"

"Yes," said Raine, "we are sorry for the fall."

"It's really nothing. I'm fine, Professor Sage, right?"

"Yes."

Somehow, amongst all of the talking, they had begun walking again.

"If you do not mind my asking," the Professor started, "you are not from Triet, am I correct?"

"Yes, just passing through. Neither are you, though." It was a statement, not a question.

"Yeah, we're on a pilgrimage," Genis jumped in. "We're going all over the world! Where are you from?"

Sophie looked down at Genis, her blue-grey eyes surveying the small elf quickly before speaking. "Let's just say I'm from a _long_ ways away." She rolled her eyes, and they moved back to Raine from her brother. "Where are you from?"

"Iselia, though we are traveling with a few other companions who are travelers themselves."

"Oh, are you in Triet for long?"

"No, only another day or so before we leave. We're going to the Ossa Trail next and then onto Izoold."

"Oh!" Sophie's eyes lit up, "That's where I was going next as well; I came down from the Asgard continent and was heading in that direction. I was worried that I was going to have to hire a mercenary to get across, but if you're going, perhaps we could travel together!"

"Well…" Raine seemed suspicious, though Lloyd couldn't figure out why. Sophie seemed perfectly friendly, and it wouldn't do any harm to have one more person in their swiftly growing group, especially a well-traveled one.

"Oh, that would be great!" Colette cried, cutting across Raine's ponderings. "That would be no problem, right Professor?"

"I suppose as long as none of the others have a problem with it…"

"Then it's settled. Let's go find them!" Lloyd exclaimed before leading the way.

The found Kratos and Skah waiting with Noishe outside one of the supply shops, both facing opposite directions and neither talking to the other; Yuan was nowhere to be found.

"Kratos, Skah, there you are!" cried Lloyd, running up to them. "But where's—?"

"Blue's inside, he should be out in a second." Skah shrugged before carefully eyeing Sophie. "Who's your friend?"

"This is Sophie, she's going in the same direction as us and we invited her to come along through the Ossa Trail."

"As long as that's alright with you, that is," Sophie said politely.

Kratos examined their girl, and she turned, feeling his eyes on her. She paled noticeably when she met his icy gaze and turned back to the—slightly—less hostile Skah.

Suddenly, Yuan came out of the store, his eyes focused on the bag that he brought out with him, apparently checking to make sure he had everything he needed. Lloyd took the liberty, being the only one semi-comfortable around the half-elf, of introducing the newcomer.

"Yuan, this is Sophie, she's going to come though the Ossa Trail with us."

"…Sophie, mmkay, whatever," he said without looking up.

Sophie, however, had frozen, eyes wide as she stared at the blue-haired man.

"Yuan?" she cried in shock. At the sound of her voice, Yuan looked up; his eyes as wide as Sophie's.

"Y—…you?"

…

**I didn't actually get the final version of this chapter beta-ed, so please tell me if there are any mistakes and I'll fix them ASAP. Anyway, please review? I'd like to know if anyone actually**_**likes**_**this story…**


	7. Our Heading: East

**Ah, seven chapters already. I'm sorry it's taking so long to get them moving; I had planned for this to go a lot faster… I'll try to speed things up from here on out. Please enjoy the chapter (although it's a little short), and please review! I'd appreciate your thoughts, comments, suggestions, and critiques.**

…

"Yuan?"

"Y—…you?"

The rest of the group looked between the half-elf and the purple-haired newcomer in confusion as the two stared at each other in shock.

"What are you doing here?" Sophie cried. "I thought you—" She cut off suddenly, looking back at the rest of the party.

"Uh, do you two know each other already?" Colette asked, her head tilted curiously to the side, face puzzled.

Yuan composed himself and answered, with a slight glance at Sophie, "We have had a few, ah, _encounters_before, yes."

"So, Yuan, what exactly _are_ you doing here?" She asked with a small smile, her eyes hard.

"Why don't we catch up later, _Sophie_?" he replied smoothly. "Right now we have other things to take care of."

Raine, Genis, and Lloyd still looked mildly shocked and confused. Skah watched the two of them with a dubious expression; Kratos' face was cold, looking inquisitively at his friend.

Colette smiled brightly. "It's such a coincidence that you know each other," she said happily. "I'm so glad we met! This is going to be so much fun!"

"Whatever you say," Sophie replied. Colette failed to notice the sarcastic note to her voice.

"Skah," Raine said as they walked back towards the inn to deposit their supplies, "do you still have that gem from the Ruins?"

Kratos shot a glance at Yuan, who met his eyes, mirroring his concern. They hadn't been meant to find the core in the temple; things would have gone according to Cruxis' plan if the blond swordsman hadn't found the passage at the back of the altar room. While Yuan's agenda differed from his own, both Seraphim were troubled by the group's discovery, especially since the disturbance in mana already seemed to be causing problems; as if to prove Kratos' thoughts, another gust of cold wind hit them, sending the Chosen and her friends staggering back a step.

"Yeah, I've got it, why?" Skah responded casually, carefully stepping away as he noted the now-familiar glint in the woman's azure eyes.

"I simply wanted to examine it," she replied coolly, managing to control the majority of her mania. "Would you mind?" She held out a slender hand expectantly.

Kratos watched Skah place the garnet-colored core in her palm, extremely ill at ease. That core could easily drive a person to insanity, and from what he had seen, neither the half-elven woman nor the temperamental swordsman needed the extra instability. His eyes flickered to Lloyd for a moment as the teen eyed the jewel once more; Kratos would make sure that the boy didn't get anywhere near the core. He didn't care what happened to the rest as long as his son stayed safe.

Besides, if Skah or Raine were affected, it would give them an excuse to get rid of them…

Meanwhile, Raine turned the jewel over in her hands, watching the sun glint off the facets. "Magnificent," she muttered before looking back up at Skah. "You don't mind if I keep this for a while?" The woman clearly expected no argument.

She received none. "Go ahead," Skah replied. "Not like I need it." Suddenly, he smiled, eyes closed, white-blond hair blown back from his head by the same steady gusts that threw his navy blue trench coat and bright orange scarf out behind him. "The wind's kinda nice, isn't it?" he said to no one in particular. "Makes it not so hot, you know?"

…

Kratos and Lloyd had left to train, Skah had accepted an offer from Colette and Genis to roam the city again, and Raine had accompanied the trio. What with everyone gone, it was a perfect opportunity for Yuan to figure out what the _hell_ his purple-haired "friend" was up to.

"Well?" he asked simply as he sat down at a table in the corner of the inn's common room.

His companion looked up from her book and tucked a lock of bright violet hair behind her ear, apparently displeased. "Well, what? I think _I'm_ the one who deserves an explanation here."

"What are you _thinking_?" he hissed, ignoring her statement. "You decided to just join up with them? Are you insane?"

"I'm trying to do my job with as little trouble as possible, Yuan," she snarled back at him. "And who are you to talk? _You_ people are the ones that hired me, and yet here _you_ are protecting her!"

Yuan sighed and folded his arms, leaning back in his chair. "There were… circumstances."

"Circumstances?" She seemed unimpressed.

"Yes." His emerald eyes narrowed, annoyed at her impertinence. "I was… coerced into it. So now I at least have to put up a _show_ of doing my part."

"And how am I supposed to do anything with you here? And who is that 'Skah' guy? He wasn't in the briefing."

"I don't know. His arrival was rather unexpected." He leaned forward over the table. "And how exactly is _this_ supposed to get your job done?"

"You warned us not to go head-to-head with that Kratos guy and all, so I figured a little poison or something might be more effective than an attack."

"I suppose," he mused.

"Besides," she said with a small smile, "won't things be easier with you here?"

Suddenly he stood up, pushing his chair back, and leaned forward with both palms pressed flat on the table. "I sincerely hope your plan doesn't bank on that factor, because if you get yourself caught, I won't do anything to save you."

…

Auburn-haired man and brunette teen sat side-by-side in the desert outside of the oasis city. Training had left Lloyd exhausted; his breath came in ragged heaves, and his right shoulder was sore from all the times he had been forcefully disarmed and knocked to the unforgiving ground by his new teacher. The Professor had seen to his leg once more earlier and, after another spell, had proclaimed him healed. Unfortunately, that meant that the mercenary hadn't gone easy on him during their practice, and Lloyd seemed to have gotten a worse beating than he had the first time. Kratos had declared the lesson over after he saw Lloyd having difficulty staying on his feet, and had joined the teen when he collapsed onto the sand instead of returning to town. For now, they simply watched the sun sink as the incessant wind whipped through their hair and blew sand in their eyes.

"Your exsphere has a rather unusual color," Kratos commented unexpectedly.

Lloyd looked down at his left hand. "Yeah, I guess it does seem a little different from everyone else's." He studied the stone for another moment before a thought occurred to him. "Why do you have an exsphere anyway?"

"I took it from a Desian," he answered matter-of-factly.

They drifted into silence once more. Lloyd's breathing slowly returned to its normal speed; he noticed unhappily that Kratos didn't seem to be tired at all. Not fair, he should at least be a little winded! But no, he only sat there, so still he could have been made of stone…

Lloyd was extremely displeased at the beating he had taken. He was the best swordsman in Iselia, and yet he couldn't even get a hit on the mercenary. In Iselia, no one had been able to beat him… and he didn't even have to use the extra power from his exsphere. His fingers ran over the stone again, his thoughts drifting at random.

"Why did Marble have an exsphere?" he asked suddenly, the question leaving his lips as soon as he thought it.

"…I heard that the Desians force the humans at the ranch to make them," the mercenary responded.

"So that's why…"

Lloyd began to get lost in his thoughts once more, but Kratos' voice broke into his reverie. "May I ask you something?"

"Go ahead."

"Why were you raised by a dwarf?"

Lloyd felt the man's eyes on him; he shifted in discomfort, staring at the ground. "Dad found me collapsed in the forest with Mom and Noishe… we were attacked by Desians."

"…Do you remember them at all? Your family?"

Lloyd turned to glare at the mercenary. "No, I don't." Kratos' face was guarded as usual, and at first, Lloyd didn't notice the sorrowful look in his deep red eyes. Lloyd turned to look back at the ground, annoyed at the man for bringing the conversation up, but feeling guilty for his sudden anger and a deeper guilt for losing his memories of his parents. "I only remember living with Dad."

"Then your biological father is probably not alive either," Kratos said quietly.

Lloyd sighed. "Probably not. If he is though," he continued, "I want to find him."

Kratos raised an eyebrow; Lloyd saw it out of the corner of his eye. "That would be a difficult search, Lloyd," he said slowly; that obviously wasn't the only though he had on the subject, only the most tactful.

"Yeah, I know. But…" he trailed off, suddenly unwilling to continue his thoughts. "Never mind." He didn't know how to put what he wanted to say into words, and even if he could, he wouldn't in front of the stoic mercenary. No way. It was too personal.

After a quiet moment, Kratos stood up. "We should head back to the inn."

"Yeah, I'm starved. Let's get supper." Lloyd stood up and started walking back, but stopped when he noticed that Kratos wasn't following. He turned around to see the man standing where they had been sitting, staring dispassionately at the setting sun, his cape flapping behind him in the wind that hadn't stopped since they had left the Triet Ruins.

"You coming?" Lloyd asked, wondering at the man's weird mood.

Kratos nodded, and Lloyd set off again back into the city. The mercenary fell into step beside him.

"So, when are we training again?" Lloyd asked.

"Are you in such a hurry?"

"I want to get stronger," Lloyd replied. "If I stay the way I am now, then I won't be able to do anything. I want to be able to stop the Desians."

Kratos looked at the teen skeptically, only to realize he was completely serious. He sighed. "Don't forget that determination. You'll need it."

Lloyd grinned up at him, a steely glint in his eyes. "Don't worry, I won't."

…

The morning sun was still low, but lit the entire desert sky in the palest of blues, pure but for the distant clouds to the north. The wind had died down momentarily, and it seemed the perfect day to begin new travels.

"On to… where are we going again?" Lloyd turned back to face his friends, who stood in the city gate watching him in various states of amusement and annoyance.

"Izoold, Lloyd," the Professor said, resigned. "We need to get to Izoold and find a boat to take us to Palmacosta."

"Right!" A wide grin spread across the boy's face as he ran out into the desert again, Noishe by his side. It was only a few seconds before he turned back again. "Uh, which way is Izoold?"

"East, Lloyd," Yuan snapped. "We need to cross through the Ossa Trail, which is to the _east_. How many times have we told you that?"

"Okay, east it is!" Lloyd waited for his companions to catch up with him before moving on. "Hurry up!"

"I'm coming, Lloyd!" Colette ran forward to meet him—miraculously not tripping—and started off confidently ahead of the others.

"Um, Colette," Lloyd said, "That's not east."

"Oh, it isn't?" Colette looked crestfallen. "Is… that way east?" she asked, pointing, and smiled brightly when her friends nodded. "Okay!" She set off again, Lloyd and Noishe at her side. Genis ran to catch up with them, and Skah sighed before following.

"What have I gotten myself into…?" Sophie muttered to herself, shaking her head before turning to Yuan. "Are they always like this?"

"From what I can tell, yes."

"Fantastic."

"You're the one that wanted to come along."

"Shut up, Yuan."

In response, the blue-haired man smirked and draped his arm around her shoulders, much to her disgust. "Just keeping you humble."

Raine sighed as she watched her students race ahead, attempting to keep pace with Lloyd's "dog"; they were incredibly excited about getting to the next seal. She, however, was less than eager to reach Izoold: from there they would have to sail…

Yuan's eyes also followed the children before him. Lloyd was smiling and had a hand placed on Noishe's back; with a slight stretch of the imagination, Yuan could change the scene to one he had seen countless times over the past few centuries… Lloyd wasn't so different from his father; it was actually quite disconcerting. Beside the boy, Sylvarant's Chosen laughed. It was a shame what had to happen, really. That girl, too, looked familiar. Yuan shook his head slightly, long blue bangs brushing his cheeks. He needed to keep himself in the present.

Up ahead, Skah grinned, facing forward, towards the east, towards the sun that glinted off his eyes. The wind tousled his hair pleasantly and played with his scarf. He could just make out the mountains in the distance, the mountains that lead to their next destination. Every step brought them closer… Skah decided then that he would enjoy these travels to the fullest.

…

"You'll need to take a few humans with you, to complete the disguise. I know it's a disgusting role to play, a pathetic human; however, so long as you make no mention of it, no one will suspect your true heritage."

"I understand completely, Lady Pronyma." Alice giggled. "Don't worry, I won't mess it up."

"Select your companion wisely, my dear." A slender hand rested on her shoulder. "I'll leave the choice to you."

Alice skipped lightly down the dreary metal hall, humming to herself. She took her time as she passed the cells, taking in the masks of hatred on the prisoners' faces and enjoying gazing into the dark eyes. Occasionally she opened the cells and whipped the hands or faces of those she passed, just for the fun of it, to hear their hisses and cries of pain. Her mentor trailed leisurely behind her, watching the young girl with approval.

These humans were all too weak to take with her; they hardly had strength to respond to her presence, let alone protect her. She sighed softly. These creatures were _so_ disappointing.

She paused in her search, stopping to slash at one of the _animals_ that dared to spit at her as she passed. The offending woman cried out as the rapier whipped through the air; bloody gashes appeared on her arms and chest. Alice giggled again.

At the sound of her voice, a man sitting at the back of the cell—she had thought he was sleeping—instantly became alert. His head shot up, and blue eyes met her golden ones: haunted blue eyes that sparkled in recognition.

"Alice!" The man climbed unsteadily to his feet and stumbled towards her. "Alice, it's you! I can't believe it!"

Her eyes narrowed in disgust at the filth approaching her. In response, he only became more desperate.

"It's me, don't you remember? Decus, from the orphanage in Hima! You saved my life, when those bandits almost killed me. You've gotta remember!"

Alice smiled: a small, cruel twist of the mouth. "Dumbo-Decus, I remember now." She giggled sweetly, and his sunken face lit up.

"I knew you couldn't forget me! Look you've gotta get me out of here, Alice, please—"

His hand gripped her thin arm, and before he could get another word out, he was thrown on the floor. Her rapier slashed once, twice, once more, and she could see the lovely red liquid spilling from the cuts across his face, pooling on the floor. "Don't you ever touch me without my permission!" she hissed, eyes narrowed with spite.

He trembled, dirty blue hair spilling over his face.

"Did you hear me, you rotten piece of filth?" She used her rapier to lift his chin, and stared into those deep blue eyes.

He only wiped the blood from his face and stared back at her pleadingly. "Alice, I'd do anything for you, just help me one more time…"

Alice felt her face soften into a smile, felt it slowly grow wider as an idea formed in her head. "You'd do anything, hmm…" She turned back to face the impassive woman behind her. "Lady Pronyma," she said sweetly, "I want _this_ one."


	8. Learning

**Longer chapter this week! I really like this one, especially the first half… not much plot development, but I feel like I'm really getting to know the characters. Ossa Trail next chapter, I promise.**

…

_Fire. Fire everywhere. The whole town was in flames; the smoke was visible even from the forest. Legs pumping, he ran as fast and as hard as he could. Fire ahead, fire in his limbs, fire in his heart. He knew Genis was falling behind, but he couldn't make himself slow down, even to let his friend catch up. His heart pounded too loud for him to concentrate on anything; all he heard was his pulse racing in time with his footsteps, and all he saw was the smoke, the fire._

_They had left his house for Iselia, confused as to why Colette had already left. But halfway there, they had seen the smoke. "The village… Come on!" he had yelled as he set off sprinting, his dog beside him and his best friend following. They became more worried as the smoke grew thicker and thicker, the wind blowing towards them, making their breathing even more difficult, even more labored._

_Flames in front of him now: figures in red uniforms laughing as they threw torches onto the cottage, roaring in laughter as the innocent villagers ran out, screaming. One grinned maliciously as he thrust his sword into a man's stomach, wrenching it to the side before pulling it out, letting the man slump to the ground, moaning in agony as he clutched his gaping wound. The Desian only laughed again as he brought his sword down again, severing the man's neck. The other soldier laughed as he held a woman who screamed in horror; he dragged her easily toward the burning house, stabbed her through the stomach, and tossed her into the flames. "Burn, you miserable worm!" he shouted over her shrieks. Lloyd was too far away to do anything but watch in horror._

_Together, he and Genis cut down all Desians they saw; Lloyd knew he was bleeding from several small gashes, but he couldn't feel it. It was only more red in his sight to add to the fires. Behind him, Genis was only winded as Lloyd had taken all the direct attacks. They made their way farther into the village, where they could hear more screams._

"_M—my house!" Genis cried, sinking to his knees as he saw the only real home he had ever known half-collapsed, all his possessions burning._

"_Come on, we have to stop them," Lloyd said, grabbing his friend's shoulder. "I'm sorry, there's nothing we can do about it now." The boy nodded shakily, his silver hair hiding his face, and he stood up. Although his friend didn't seem very steady, Lloyd led him to the back of the village, towards more fire and smoke._

"_Lloyd Irving, come forth! Present yourself!"_

_The call came from further on, near Colette's house. They raced towards the sound._

_Lloyd wanted to heave; all that he had just seen, all that he had just_done_, and now this before him: more homes burning, more bodies on the ground. A group of villagers had taken refuge in the school, but there were many trapped on the path between two groups of soldiers._

"_Lloyd Irving!"_

_A commander called out his name again. More soldiers holding torches had Phaidra and Frank trapped against their house, apart from the rest of the townspeople. Behind the rest of the Desians, a teal-haired man stood leaning against a gate, looking bored. A red patch covered his right eye, and his left arm had been replaced with some kind of metal thing…_

"_You're attacking the village again?" Lloyd shouted. "I've had enough of this!"_

"_What are you talking about?" one of the soldiers snarled at him._

"_He speaks nonsense," the man in the back said without emotion. "Ignore him." He pushed himself from his resting place and strode forward, coming to a halt in front of his officers. "Listen up, inferior beings. I am Forcystus, one of the Five Desian Grand Cardinals. I rule over the ranch where we cultivate you pathetic humans." He turned to face Lloyd. "You, Lloyd, have been found guilty for the crime of violating the non-aggression treaty. Therefore, I bring judgment upon you and this village!"_

_The Desians only laughed when Genis protested, ignored the fact that they had broken the treaty first._

"_What have you done?" the mayor cried. "How many times have we told you to stay away from the ranch?"_

_Then… then they led the monster out. Lloyd's adrenaline was still coursing through him; he didn't notice the cuts inflicted on him, concentrated only on defending himself, defending Genis, doing as much damage as possible to his foe… more blood, more fire, more red filling his vision._

"_Lord Forcystus! It's just as you thought, the boy has an exsphere!" It had happened: despite all of Dad's warnings, the Desians discovered the small stone on his hand, the only thing he had inherited from his mother, the thing that they had hunted and killed her for._

"_It must be the Angelus Project that we've been searching for!" the man said, looking at Lloyd with renewed interest. "Give it to me, boy!"_

"_No! This is a memento of my mom's, who you Desians murdered!"_

"_What are you talking about, boy?" Forcystus raised one aqua eyebrow. "Your mother was—" Suddenly, the monster heaved itself off the ground and collapsed on top of the Grand Cardinal, pinning him._

"_Run… away… Genis, Lloyd…"_

_That moan—that sickened, disgusting wail—made Lloyd freeze in horror. No, no, no… No, it couldn't be… Please, no…_

"_Wh—What was that voice?" Genis asked, severely shaken. "It… sounded like… Marble?"_

"_It can't be… It can't be!" Please, gods, no, no…_

_The moan came again: "Get away… hurry! … Genis… you were like a grandson to me… Thank you… Good-bye."_

_Lloyd was still in shock. He had just—oh gods, he had just_killed_—this couldn't be real…_

_A huge flash, an explosion, almost, and it was gone. Forcystus crouched, burns and gashes across his arms. A small object fell, rolled towards them, and Genis stepped forward dazedly to pick it up._

"_Protect Lord Forcystus!" the Desian commander yelled._

"…_Lloyd." He looked up automatically; through the haze, some part of his mind focused on the man in front of him. "We will always come after you as long as you possess that exsphere. Always!"_

"Lloyd?"

He jumped before turning to look at Kratos. "What?"

"I asked you if you wanted to train," he reiterated, looking at the teen curiously.

"O-oh," Lloyd replied incoherently as he gathered his thoughts. It had been a few days since they left Triet, and they were now starting to set up camp. The sand beneath them was slowly mixing with dirt and some sparse plant growth. Lloyd could smack himself; judging by the position of the sun, he must have been walking in a daze, trapped in memories, for at least an hour. His legs shook slightly, and the sweat on his brow had nothing to do with the heat.

"Well?" Kratos asked, cutting into Lloyd's thoughts again.

"N-no, not right now…" he said, still trying to get his bearings.

Kratos stared at him for a moment. "Are you feeling all right? You should see your teacher if you aren't well."

Lloyd shook his head vehemently. "No, I'm fine," he protested, much to Kratos' apparent skepticism. "I just… I just don't wanna train right now."

"…As you will," the mercenary replied after a slight pause.

…

"_What have you done? Look! Look what you've done to our village! This is all your fault! If not for you, this wouldn't have happened!"_

"_I—I'm sorry…"_

"_You think apologizing will do anything? Do you know how many people died because of you?"_

"_That's not fair, Lloyd didn't do anything wrong! He just saved Marble!"_

"_Any involvement with the ranch is forbidden!"_

"_But I didn't mean for this—"_

"_You can't fix this by wishing it hadn't happened. The Desians marked you as their enemy! As long as you are here, this village will never be at peace!"_

"_Mayor, surely you won't exile a_child_…"_

"_He isn't even from this village! He's an outsider; a barbarian raised by a dwarf! He brought this upon us, and he will take the punishment."_

Lloyd buried his face in his hands. Those voices wouldn't stop playing through his head.

Shortly after supper, Lloyd had said he wanted to take a walk, and declined the offers of company. He could still see their fire a ways away; he had collapsed onto the ground once he was a fair distance away from them, wanting time alone to think. No matter what he did, memories of his last day in Iselia plagued him, wouldn't leave him alone. He knew Genis felt similarly, but Lloyd couldn't talk about it, even to him. Besides, it wasn't as bad for Genis; he hadn't had to fight hand-to-hand, hadn't been able to see their malicious faces clearly, hadn't suffered the injuries or seen the bloodshed, _caused_ the bloodshed, like Lloyd had.

"Why…" he muttered to himself. "Why?"

"Lloyd?"

For the second time that day, Kratos startled him out of his thoughts.

"Don't do that!" he snapped, resentful of the unwanted company. Kratos ignored his animosity and sat beside him.

"What's wrong, Lloyd?" he asked quietly.

"It's nothing," he replied quickly, "Let's go back—"

Kratos grabbed his arm as he moved to stand. "They're worried, Lloyd, but no one wants to ask you about it."

Lloyd sighed and slumped back down. "So why are you here?"

"Merely to see if you wanted to talk."

"What makes you think I'd want to talk to you about it?" Lloyd couldn't help lashing out, despite how he was coming to like the mercenary; the memories had been battering him too hard.

Kratos said nothing for a long while, and Lloyd had begun to debate trying to leave again when he finally spoke. "You're thinking of what happened in Iselia, are you not?"

"How'd you…"

"I was there when Genis told his sister and the Chosen what happened," he said softly.

"Right…" Lloyd hung his head, ashamed that Kratos knew about it. Suddenly, the words came tumbling out. "I didn't think that that would happen! I mean, they already broke the treaty and everything, and I didn't think they saw me. All I did was try to help Marble—" Lloyd broke off and shuddered at the thought of Marble, at what he had done… After a moment, he continued in a much more subdued tone, "Do you think it was right? Helping her?"

"You did the only thing your conscience would allow."

"I can't even tell what that means," Lloyd muttered, annoyed at Kratos' vocabulary.

Kratos sighed. "You could not forgive yourself if you hadn't intervened; therefore, you took your only option."

"But how could I be right, when it's my fault that Iselia was attacked?"

"Right and wrong are not definite things, Lloyd. What appears to be right to you could seem unforgivable to someone else."

"Why can't you give a straight answer?"

"Because there are none."

Lloyd glared. "You're a big help," he grumbled at the man.

"In this situation, Lloyd, no one can help you." The teen looked up in bewilderment, but the mercenary stared ahead, any emotions masked. "Only you can decide your own right and wrong, your good and evil, what is truth against the lies. The decisions of others cannot define your thoughts; it is something one has to choose alone."

"But what if I can't tell?" Lloyd yelled. "What if I have no idea what I should have done? I couldn't just do nothing, but when I tried to help, it only made everything worse! I thought I was doing the right thing, but because of me, the village was destroyed! There was nothing I could do. I don't know what the right answer is!"

"There is no 'right answer', Lloyd. That's the cold truth of the world."

Lloyd glared at the man. "I thought you said that no one else could tell me what the truth was?"

Kratos finally looked at him; a bitter smile twisted his lips. "Now you're starting to understand."

For some reason, Lloyd couldn't help but laugh. There was no real humor in it, but it somehow made everything look a little less daunting. "You're really only confusing me more, you know."

"It will make sense in time."

"Yeah, I think it will, that's what confuses me."

Kratos' eyes glinted in amusement, but he quickly turned away and stood up. "We should get back to camp, Lloyd. Your friends are concerned about you."

"You say it like you aren't." Kratos looked back at him; Lloyd continued. "I mean, you wouldn't have come talk to me if you didn't care, right? Don't pretend like nothing matters to you."

Kratos stared at him for another moment, his eyes hidden in the growing darkness. Finally, he shrugged slightly and began to walk back to the fire. Lloyd scrambled up and followed him.

…

"You're too slow, Lloyd."

The teen groaned as he picked himself up off the ground yet again; he had actually managed to block Kratos' blows for a few minutes, but as soon as he took the offensive, Kratos seemed to vanish before appearing just to his side and knocking him to the ground once more.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" the Professor asked from the sidelines; she sat on the ground with her brother and Colette, eating sandwiches. The group had stopped for lunch, and Lloyd wanted to make up for not training the night before. Skah lounged a short ways away, basking in the sun, and Yuan and Sophie sat near each other further on, although the purple-haired traveler didn't seem incredibly pleased with her company.

"What do you mean, Professor? What's wrong with training?" Lloyd rested the tip of one sword into the ground and leaned on it, taking a short break from the fight.

"I'm not sure it's beneficial for you to take so much damage for the sake of practice," she replied, eyeing him with concern as he tried to catch his breath.

"So you would rather have him seriously injured in battle from lack of experience?" Kratos countered.

The elven woman huffed. "Fine then, go ahead."

Lloyd straightened, holding his swords at the ready. Once more, Kratos attacked, and the teen frantically blocked the hits. How was it that the mercenary could attack so fast with one sword that Lloyd could hardly block the hits with two?

His arms ached from taking the pressure of all the blows; he decided to try a different tactic. Instead of knocking the sword away, he began to jump back from the attacks. He watched more carefully where Kratos would strike, and stepped to the side of his swings instead of countering them.

"Heh, I wondered when you would realize the mistake in your tactics," Kratos said as he swung again, missing Lloyd by a breath.

"You're my teacher, aren't you supposed to tell me what to do?"

"Sometimes you need to recognize things on your own." The man spun to the side, swiftly moving behind him; Lloyd jumped back and just barely missed the hit. "You don't need to move so much, you're only wasting energy."

"How am I supposed to dodge you then?"

Distracted by the conversation, Lloyd moved a fraction of a second too slow, and Kratos' sword caught his arm. "Pay attention."

Lloyd made a face at the mercenary as the attacks stopped. "Do you have to be such a jerk about it?" he asked, mock-pouting. Kratos only glared back.

The teen stretched his aching limbs, but a sharp sting made him swear softly and look down at his arm. The Professor caught sight of the small injury as he examined it. "Lloyd, you're bleeding!" His teacher rushed forward, pulling his arm toward her, and consequently bringing him closer too. "I told you to go easy," she murmured as she examined the cut.

His face was on fire; Lloyd pulled himself away. "It's only a scratch, Professor, really. I've done worse just working on projects at home."

Genis laughed loudly from the background at Lloyd's embarrassment; he quite juvenilely found it amusing that Lloyd was being treated like a child. It was worse that Skah, Yuan, and even Sophie chuckled, because they understood Lloyd's thoughts better…

"Really, Lloyd, you need to be more careful," she scolded as she cast First Aid. The skin of his arm swiftly healed over, leaving no scar; it looked like he'd be able to fix the tear in his coat pretty easily too.

"Leave the kid alone," Yuan sighed. "He's fine."

Raine glared at the half-elf. "He is my student; I'm responsible for his safety here."

"Will you guys please stop treating me like I'm ten?" Lloyd protested loudly. "I can take care of myself!"

Genis laughed even harder when Raine ignored him and turned to Kratos. "I've told you before, Mr. Aurion, that this is dangerous, did I not?"

"Not as dangerous as leaving him untrained, I assure you."

"And using real blades!" she continued angrily. "At least when he used wooden swords, he wasn't in danger of hurting himself."

"Or any of his attackers."

"I can't believe you're so callous—"

"Professor!" Lloyd shouted, successfully halting the argument. "It's not Kratos' fault, so leave him alone. I want to learn to fight, and I'm better off having a teacher than trying to do it on my own. And really, it's not like I really got hurt, so it's no big deal, all right?"

His teacher stared at him for a moment, then finally turned away, calming herself. "If you insist, Lloyd, then there is nothing I can do to stop you." She walked back to where Colette and Genis were finishing their lunch and sat down, pointedly ignoring everyone.

"So…" Lloyd said awkwardly, uncomfortable in the silence. "Kratos, are we gonna keep going?"

The mercenary shook his head. "I think it best if we stop for the day."

"Aww, seriously? That's no fun…" Seeing that Kratos was indeed serious, he turned to survey his friends, and grinned at the blond swordsman sitting in the sparse grass of the plain. "Hey Skah, you wanna give it a go?"

"Nope."

"Come on, why not?"

"No way, kid," Skah shook his head. "I really don't want to humiliate you like that."

"You wish," Lloyd countered. Seeing his persuasion was doing no good on the blonde, he turned hopefully to the cobalt-haired half-elf. "Yuan, how about you?"

"No."

"Why?"

"I don't hold back. If I fought you, you'd end up dead, and your lovely teacher would kill me, so no."

Lloyd frowned. "You guys are no fun…" His gaze shifted to the small purple-haired woman sitting next to Yuan. "Sophie, do you fight?"

"I can defend myself," she said, sounding slightly offended.

"You wanna try fighting?"

She smirked. "You wouldn't be able to keep up with me."

"Just watch me." Lloyd grinned. "Come on, let's see who's better."

Raine frowned. "Lloyd, I think you've had enough practice for one day."

Her student scowled. "I'm fine, Professor."

"Lloyd, I really don't think…"

Colette said cheerfully, "What if Lloyd uses his wooden swords?"

The older Sage sibling looked unsure, but the younger Sage was suddenly excited. "Sophie could try to dodge while Lloyd attacks! Then we can see who's faster."

"Yeah!" Lloyd looked hopefully at the traveler, eager for a challenge. "Sophie, how about it?"

She though for a moment before a small smile spread across her lips. "I accept your challenge." She stood slowly and moved out a ways from the rest of the group as Lloyd grabbed his wooden swords and came to face her.

"I'll try not to go too hard on you, Sophie," Lloyd taunted, "but no promises."

"And I'll try not to embarrass you too much," she countered. "Whenever you're ready."

Lloyd charged, although not at his top speed, holding back most of his power. However, the woman moved surprisingly fast, easily side-stepping him. He attacked again, faster this time, and she still spun away quickly. He quickly spun, lashing out again, only to find that Sophie was not where he thought she was; his attacks missed by a huge margin.

"You're not too bad," Lloyd said as he struck out at her, missing only by a hair.

She smirked. "I'd like to say the same for you, however…" She gracefully ducked to the side, underneath one of the wooden blades. "I don't like to lie."

Lloyd's attacks began to come faster and harder, but no matter what he did, his opponent merely spun out of the way effortlessly, that small smile of hers mocking him the entire time. She somehow managed to dodge between his swords, and looked much more elegant doing it than Lloyd had done while evading Kratos.

Suddenly, as she ducked his blade again, he saw a small opening in her defenses. He lunged, anxious to land a hit and stop the laughter of his friends on the sidelines; unfortunately, in his desperation he lost focus and thrust a bit too hard, too sloppily. Sophie saw the obvious attack coming, and spun to the other side. A light tap to Lloyd's back ruined his already precarious balance and sent him sprawling face-first into the ground.

"I think that's enough," she said smugly as Lloyd brushed the dirt off himself, spitting some out with disgust.

"Wow, Lloyd, you just got beat by a _girl_!" Genis crowed, enjoying his best friend's embarrassment. Colette giggled along with him while congratulating Sophie. Yuan chuckled slightly.

Lloyd ignored his friends and turned to his opponent, a reluctant smile on his face. "You're good, Sophie. Where'd you learn that?"

She shrugged, smiling coyly. "I've had a bit of training." Although she seemed casual, there was something in her tone that made Lloyd think she didn't want to talk about it, and he decided not to press. He'd still have time to get to know her before they got to Izoold anyway.

Raine looked up from where she was packing up their lunch supplies. "We should get moving," she said, and the rest of the group nodded. They were all eager to get to their next destination, so the faster they traveled, the better.

Lloyd looked up at the sky, watching the wind blow swiftly through the wispy clouds. This was the farthest away from home he had ever been, and they would soon be going farther; then again, home wasn't really _home_ to him any more, it couldn't be after what had happened, so the only thing left to do was keep moving forward. He smiled in anticipation of the adventures awaiting him. Now all he had to do was go find them.


	9. Secrets

**Sorry, I meant to finish this sooner, but what with Thanksgiving and relatives showing up unannounced and other circumstances, it just didn't get done.**

**NOTE ON THE TEXT: In case this isn't clear, anything that's written in italic happened at some point in the past.**

…

_The room was dark; these rooms always were. Why would they provide anything else for the half-elves perpetually confined here? It was enough for them to get their work done. He didn't like it at all, but they wouldn't let his partner out except on very rare occasions, so he found himself down here almost all the time._

_They worked in a small section of the basement; as of late, they practically lived in the tiny room. His notes were spread over all the tables, originally written in black, but now covered in red crosses with quick scrawls correcting his original ideas with new ones, some of the writing in his round lettering and some in a more dignified script. There were also books full of notes from others' previous experiments, and some old tomes on the Summon Spirits._

"_Do you think we're ready?" he asked, looking up at his partner, his best friend. "We have all the research, we've done the tests, and it all makes sense! Using Rilena's methods from Flanoir, I think we could do it!"_

_A frown crossed the other man's face as he looked down at some of the notes, blue light from the silent machines glinting off his glasses. "There's still so much that could go wrong…"_

"_But in Flanoir they managed it, and it was so similar! With the changes we've made to the formula—"_

"_Look at what happened to them in Flanoir. They couldn't control what they had created."_

"_Corrine was a success, though. You can't deny that."_

"_I suppose…" After shuffling through the notes, the half-elf shook his head. "I don't think we should try it. We need more research."_

_The human's emerald eyes hardened. "We can do it, I know we can. Think of what this would do for us!"_

_Still his partner looked unsure. "What it would do for_you_, you mean. They'll never let me out of here."_

"_Have some faith! Courage is the magic that turns dreams into reality, remember?" His friend scoffed, so he tried again. "It will work. Trust me."_

_Viridian eyes met jade ones, and after a moment, his partner nodded. "Fine. We'll try it."_

…

The sky was clear ahead; a slight breeze brushed over the land, rustling the dry grass with a soft hiss. Sunlight gently caressed the growing foothills, warming the dry air, which smelled clean, fresh; it held a hint of excitement, adventure. At least, that's how it had seemed when they started out that morning. However, as the day wore on with nothing to break the monotony of travel, a certain brunette teen decided he would have to liven things up on his own.

"Hey guys! Mountain, Colette, grass. Bad ping."

A collective groan reached his ears at the same time as the laughter of his friends. A huge grin spread across his face.

"Okay, Lloyd, the sun, that butterfly, good ping," Colette replied.

Yuan glared back at the children. "Don't you even get _started_," he hissed.

"What's going on?"

There was only one of their number that hadn't encountered ping before. "Oh sorry, Sophie. It's this game we play, but you have to guess the rules on your own. Well, _rule_, actually; there's only one."

The Professor immediately began to complain at their antics and Yuan made some very colorful suggestions as to what would happen to anyone who continued this game, but Lloyd laughed and ignored them. "Okay, Yuan, Skah, Sophie, good ping. Me, Genis, Kratos, bad ping."

"So does it have to have people in it to be good?" Sophie asked, head cocked inquisitively to the side.

"No, that doesn't matter at all," Lloyd replied good-naturedly. "I'll give you a few more, okay? Me, flowers, my swords, good ping. You, the mountains, Genis, bad ping, okay? Colette, Skah, Yuan, good ping."

Her eyebrows furrowed slightly. "I still don't follow you."

"Come on, Sophie, guess!" Genis encouraged. "Clouds, me, the trail, bad ping. Okay, Skah, that rock, Noishe, good ping."

"Does a person have to come first?"

"Nope!" Lloyd shook his head, enjoying the annoyance of the adults ahead of him, who were grumbling to each other about "foolish, juvenile games".

"Is it about the number of letters?"

Skah replied this time. "No, I guessed that the first time I played."

"He's the only one that's ever figured it out," Colette giggled.

Sophie eyed the man speculatively. "Well, if he can figure it out, I can," she decided. "Give me some more examples."

"Why in hell are you encouraging them?" Yuan demanded. "This is ridiculous!"

She sneered at him, along with Raine and Kratos, who obviously agreed with him. "You guys are just too old to have any fun. I'm staying back here with them!" she said, falling back between Skah and Lloyd and draping her arms around their shoulders, the large height difference allowed her to be practically carried along between them for a few feet before she slid down and walked between them.

"Good choice," Skah stated blandly, earning glares from the adults ahead.

"Okay," Colette said, "the stump, that cloud that looks like a kitty, Mr. Yuan, good ping."

Sophie looked at the children. "So does it just have to be things in the area? Things you can see?"

Genis shrugged. "Yeah, it's generally stuff you can see, but that's not the one rule."

"Is it the number of syllables?"

"Sylla… what?" Lloyd asked, face scrunched in concentration.

Sophie eyed him, unsure as to whether or not he was serious. "Okay… I'll take that as a no."

Colette smiled at Sophie, saying, "We'll give you a few more, okay? The tree, that big rock, you, good ping. Lloyd, mountain, me, bad ping."

"Let's really confuse her, okay?" Skah said, smirking. "Me, Lloyd, you, good ping. Now me, Lloyd, you, bad ping."

"What? How does that work?" Sophie scowled. "I think that the only rule is that there _is_ no rule, and whatever you say goes."

Lloyd shook his head, laughing. "Nope, if that was it, then the Professor would have gotten it years ago."

"Then it's not even about what you say, is it? You guys probably have some weird secret hand gesture or something that makes it a good ping, or you blink a certain number of times or something."

"You're getting closer," Genis taunted.

Lloyd laughed. "Yeah, but you're still off. It's _all_about what you say."

"Is it now…" She trailed off, looking thoughtful.

"Aren't you going to try a ping?" Skah asked. "It's easier if you hazard a guess."

"How am I supposed to try when I don't know the rules?"

"Rule, singular," Genis corrected. "And that's why it's called _guessing_."

She glared down at him for a moment before ignoring the child completely. "No, I'm not guessing. Give me more examples."

"Not now, please," the Professor said from ahead. "We need to stop for lunch, and I would prefer if you would stop your game for now, if you all don't mind."

It was clear that it wasn't a suggestion, and so her students paused their taunts and ran forward to help with lunch, although really that was only to prevent her from trying to make anything. However, only her pupils were so considerate.

"How did you figure it out?" Sophie asked Skah. "It makes no sense."

He shrugged. "Just paid attention."

"Stop talking about that game!" Yuan snapped, glaring at the both of them.

"Yuan, you're just mad you can't figure it out," Sophie replied, but didn't continue her inquiries.

The game wasn't brought up again until after lunch, and even then it was short-lived: the loud protests of Yuan and Raine and occasional silent glares from Kratos were enough to make Colette feel guilty for bothering them and cause Genis to fear punishment from his sister. Once two of the players had left, the game lost its appeal to Lloyd and Skah, so Sophie was left to contemplate the one rule on her own.

…

That evening it started to get really cold. Lloyd was sharing first watch with Skah, but so far the older swordsman hadn't said anything. He shivered and shifted closer to the fire, Noishe adjusting behind him.

Sophie made supper earlier: some weirdly spicy rice dish that Lloyd really enjoyed but had never heard of before. Sophie mentioned it was something that her family had always eaten. Despite the efforts of him, Colette, and Genis, Lloyd didn't think that Sophie really felt welcome in the group; Skah was apathetic, and Kratos and the Professor were just as suspicious of her as they were of Skah. It wasn't exactly hard to miss, especially since Kratos had watched her like a hawk the entire time she was cooking, like he was expecting her to poison the food or something. Then again, Kratos kind of watched everyone like that…

"You had better not be falling asleep, kid," Skah grumbled.

"No, I'm awake. And don't call me 'kid', I'm not that much younger than you." Lloyd stretched a bit before his stomach growled. "I'm hungry. Is there any of that stuff Sophie made left?"

"Nah, your dog ate the rest."

Lloyd glared down at Noishe, who whined, eyes wide. "Well, I'll have to find something else then," he sighed, leaning forward to look for anything edible. He eventually found a bit of bread and some jerky, and after feeding a bit to the begging Noishe, offered some to Skah. "Want any?"

"Sure." He took a few pieces of jerky and ripped a piece off with his teeth, turning to stare at the fire.

"…Are you okay?" Lloyd asked after a moment.

"What?" Skah looked at him, slight surprise on his face.

"You've been pretty quiet lately and stuff…" Lloyd shrugged awkwardly. "I just thought there might be something wrong."

Skah snorted. "That coming from you, who randomly wouldn't talk to anyone the other day?"

Lloyd squirmed in the man's crimson glare. "That was…"

"Something you don't want to talk about, yeah, I know. Let a man keep a few secrets, okay kid?"

"I said stop calling me 'kid'! I'm not that young."

"Yeah, you actually are. What are you, sixteen, seventeen?"

"Seventeen," Lloyd huffed defensively.

"That's what I thought, _kid_."

Lloyd glared at him. "How old are _you_, then?"

"Older than you."

"Twenty?"

"Something like that," Skah said, shrugging.

Lloyd frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Let a guy keep a few secrets, Lloyd."

…

They traveled fast, and soon had reached the mountains and the Ossa Trail. Lloyd looked up at the huge cliffs around him, wondering what it would be like to try to climb them…

"Don't even think about it, Lloyd," Raine said sternly, catching the all too familiar adventurous look on his face.

He instantly deflated. "But Professor!"

"_No_, Lloyd."

Frowning, Lloyd racked his brain for other ways to amuse himself. "Okay, the trail, Genis, grass, good p—"

"Child, if you don't shut your mouth, I will cut your tongue out," Yuan hissed.

Shot down once more, Lloyd crossed his arms, glaring at nothing.

"Lloyd, stop acting like a little kid," Genis laughed, elbowing his friend.

Colette came up on his other side. "We'll get to Izoold soon, then we can get a boat. That will be so much fun!"

"Yeah…" Lloyd grinned, imagining sailing across the sea on a huge ship. "It'll be an adventure!"

"What, the current adventures aren't enough for you?" Skah scoffed, hiding a smile. "You would want more excitement."

"Well, it's not like there's too much happening now…"

"Lloyd, there may not even be ships sailing at the moment," the Professor commented from behind them. "We may be staying in Izoold for quite a while."

"Aw, seriously?" Lloyd sighed, disappointed, but quickly cheered himself back up. "Then we'll just have to find some other adventure!"

Kratos watched the teen with slight amusement. "Izoold is not a large town by any standards; I doubt you will be able to entertain yourself for long."

"Why do you people have to be such kill-joys?" Lloyd grumbled. "We'll figure something out."

"Yeah," Colette agreed, nodding emphatically. "We can find something to do. I'm sure the people there will be really nice, maybe they'll know something fun."

Kratos looked at her with a raised eyebrow, but said no more.

"Hey Sophie," Lloyd called to the traveler; she hadn't spoken since entering the trail, and seemed rather tense. "What are you gonna do in Izoold?"

The purple-haired woman didn't reply, didn't respond at all; maybe she hadn't heard him, but that seemed sort of unlikely because she wasn't that far ahead of him. "Sophie? Did you hear me?" he called again.

This time she looked up at the sound of her name; she turned around, smiling sheepishly. "Sorry Lloyd, I was spacing out for a minute… what did you say?"

"I wanted to know what you're doing in Izoold. I mean, it sounds like a pretty small place, right? Why are you headed there? Are you trying to get a boat too?"

"Oh, I'm meeting up with my cousin…"

At that moment, a new voice called out from above them. "Is the Chosen of Mana among you?"

They looked up, astonished to see a young woman, not that much older than Lloyd actually, standing atop an overhang on the mountain. Black hair was tied into a ponytail; she wore a purple robe-like garment over black leggings, a pink ribbon tied around her waist, the ends of which blew out behind her.

"Yeah, that's me," Colette replied, looking at the girl in confusion. "Who are you?"

"Who I am doesn't matter. Prepare to die!"

With that, she leapt down from the overhang, landing effortlessly and immediately charging towards the blonde girl. Lloyd instantly rushed to block her, and he wasn't the only one; Kratos, Skah, and even Sophie started towards the Chosen, but in one of her signature moments of clumsiness, Colette saved herself: she stepped backwards in surprise, tripped, and somehow opened up a _hole in the ground_, which the assassin stepped directly into.

"Oh no!" Colette cried, crouching by the hole. "Do you think she's okay?"

"Don't worry about it. If she hadn't fallen in, you might have been killed."

"But now she's probably hurt, and it's my fault!" She leaned over the opening in the ground, peering in, and called out, "Are you all right?"

"Colette…" Genis groaned.

Lloyd frowned. "I do feel kind of sorry for her..."

Yuan shrugged. "Don't worry, the fall shouldn't have killed her. But we should get moving, we want to get out of here before she gets out."

"Shouldn't we try to figure out who she was?"

"No," Kratos replied. "She will come after us again on her own. This area is too confined and the footing is poor; it would be wise not to linger."

"I agree with the old man for once," Skah said. "If she's trying to kill the Chosen, she's gonna be back. We'd better get moving."

Through the entire conversation, Sophie had been quiet, staring down at the trapdoor, but now she looked up. "Yeah, let's go."

"Do you think she'll be okay?" Colette asked nervously as they started out again.

Sophie nodded. "I think she's fine."

…

The day passed slowly as they walked through the mountains. As usual, they encountered few monsters—fewer than Lloyd had expected, at any rate—and the youngest among their group were swiftly getting restless. Genis fidgeted constantly, Colette was quickly losing interest in the landscape, and it was inevitable that Lloyd would voice the phrase that in two words demonstrated his incredibly short attention span: "I'm bored!"

"How can you be bored again?" Yuan complained. "Amuse yourself!"

"But every time I try, you tell me to shut up!"

"Amuse yourself with something _other_ than that game," the half-elf replied, rubbing his temples.

"But there's nothing to _do_!" Lloyd huffed, crossing his arms.

Yuan looked over at him, now slightly amused. "I'm sure that your lovely teacher would be willing to start a lesson, so you won't be so horribly deprived of enjoyment."

Lloyd saw the Professor's eyes begin to light and shuddered. "No thanks, I think I'll try to find something else to do…"

Kratos looked at the teen, vaguely disgusted. "It wouldn't hurt for you to learn something, Lloyd."

He shifted uncomfortably. "Yeah, but I'd rather—" He cut off, turning to stare in wonder as a huge wooden wall collapsed out towards them, revealing a tunnel into the mountain. In the mouth of the cave stood the girl from earlier, looking slightly rumpled and dirty, but ready to fight. "Whoa," he said dazedly. "She caught up with us."

Colette ran forward, oblivious to the woman's obvious intentions. "Oh, thank goodness! I was worried that you got hurt when you fell."

The assassin took a startled step backwards, looking at Colette in shock. She quickly shook it off, pulling out a few cards with strange markings on them. "D-don't move!" she said.

The blonde stopped, looking at her with wide, innocent eyes. "Are you okay?"

"Y-you shouldn't care! I won't be caught off guard this time. Prepare to die!" She charged, but Lloyd reached Colette before her, pulling the Chosen out of the way as Kratos approached, sword drawn.

The black-haired woman hissed, surveying the group surrounding her. "Damn…" She pulled out another card, this one covered in mystic-looking green swirls. A few quick motions and it disappeared in smoke, replaced by a tall ghost-like creature surrounded in crimson spikes. "That should even things out." She ran at Colette again, only to be blocked by Lloyd's swords. She scowled as she nimbly spun out of the way. "A little help here, Rin?"

"With pleasure," Sophie replied as she drew knives and ran forward into the fray.

…

_Silver moonlight bathed the towering stones. Even from this distance, he had to crane his neck to see the tops; he had never seen anything so magnificent before. However, he couldn't just admire them, he had work to do. The Academy had granted them permission to leave—not that it would have stopped them if they hadn't received it—so he and his partner had set out, frantically searching. This was as bad as the Flanoir fiasco, and they could only try to set it right._

_They left their small boat at the shore, rushing towards the huge arrangement. According to the local legends, they shouldn't be here, not tonight at least, but they had no time to waste; they had used enough in gathering information. Everything they learned pointed them to this monument of sorts, which could be so much more than it appeared._

_As they approached, they realized they weren't alone; a figure stood at the center of the circle; slowly, it began to follow the ring, examining the ancient stone. He heard a distant laugh._

"_What are you doing here?" his partner demanded._

_The man turned around—or the teen, he may have been rather young, it was impossible to tell in the night—and the moonlight that glinted off the dark hair revealed a wide smile falling off of the face._

"_Get out of here, I'm busy."_

"_Busy with what?" his partner demanded, scowling. "We have business here."_

_An eyebrow rose, lips curling in amused disdain. "Business, hm? Well, I have business too, business that I would like to finish, if you don't mind."_

_He was about to reply when a glow caught his eye. Runes glowed green at the bases of the stones, gaining speed as they wove their way higher. Night turned to day in his eyes as a narrow white beam descended from above, lighting the island in white. Earth seemed as water; the ground between the pillars of rock rippled._

"_What? No! What's—" The man's shout disappeared as he did, just before the pure light exploded in his own eyes. Then it was only black._


	10. The Ossa Trail

**Once again, I wanted to get this up sooner, but the battle scenes proved hard to finish. R &R please.**

…

"What the—"

The traveler that had introduced herself as Sophie came running at him, knives in her hands. He jumped backwards, and the blades just barely missed his abdomen as she slashed at him.

"Sophie, what are you doing?" Colette cried, blue eyes wide in horror.

The purple-haired woman ignored her, instead calling out to the assassin—her accomplice. "Get her now!" The younger woman was already on the move, taking advantage of the Chosen's distraction to run to the girl's side, mystically marked cards in hand. A puff of smoke, then Colette cried out.

"Colette!" Lloyd made a move to go to her side, but Sophie—who wasn't actually Sophie—cut him off, forcing him back as she slashed again. He attempted to counter, but she just slipped to the side, lashing out at him once more. One of the knives caught his side, just grazing him, but it was enough to draw blood. He looked desperately at his friends for help, but saw none coming immediately; Kratos was focused on the dark-haired assassin, driving her away from Colette as Yuan attacked the Guardian. Genis was casting, hopefully to attack Sophie… Lloyd grunted as the woman's elbow collided with his stomach.

"You're still not fast enough, Lloyd," she taunted as she ducked under his poorly-executed swing. "Doesn't look like that training's paying off."

"Well, that's what I'm here for, isn't it?" Skah asked as he knocked her to the ground. He raised his sword to swing, but before the blow fell she rolled to the side and to her feet, darting behind Lloyd to attack again.

"Why are you doing this?" Colette threw a chakram at her black-haired adversary, although she was reluctant to attack.

"You don't need to know!" came the reply, along with more strange, foreign attacks. Raine cast First Aid, healing the damage inflicted on the blonde, and Genis let off a Fireball attack at Sophie. She dodged between the first two jets, but the third caught her arm, and she hissed in pain as she darted away, desperately attempting to put out the flames on her sleeve. Lloyd swung his blades, letting off a double shock wave that Kratos had taught him in one of their training sessions. Sophie staggered back again, but quickly drew a few small, circular blades—throwing stars, Lloyd saw—out of her belt, sending them at him in quick succession as Skah attacked. The aim was rather off, but still one managed to pierce his arm; gritting his teeth, he ripped it out, letting out a gasp of pain.

Yuan still struggled to get past the Wind creature the assassin had summoned, but between Kratos and Colette, the woman wasn't doing well. An Icicle spell from Genis had left small cuts across her face and arms; she panted as she just barely spun away from Kratos' swings. "Damn it," she muttered, ducking a chakram as it passed, leaning dramatically to the side as its fellow came back from behind her. Leaping backwards, she briefly landed on her hands before pushing off again, flipping through the air and landing with arms out in front of her; white ruins glowed as soon as she landed, and after muttering quickly, she raised an arm. "Corrine!" A white flash, and suddenly a tiny, furry blur darted out, racing through the tangle of bodies at the Chosen.

"Is that a puppy?" Colette gasped in surprise. Her guard dropped instinctively, her initial reaction to pick up the creature. As she reached out, the animal leapt, tiny, sharp teeth piercing her skin.

Sophie gasped out a short laugh as she dodged between Skah's and Lloyd's swords. "It looks like that thing's actually useful after all."

Colette shook her arm frantically, and the creature's jaws opened and it dropped to the ground, immediately charging the girl again. Kratos had already turned his attention to the Chosen's danger, and leapt to attack. His powerful swing missed by only an inch as the fox-like being darted away, again turning back to the blonde.

Sophie's movements were progressively slowing as she tired; Lloyd managed to land a few hits on her, Skah landing more. She retreated towards the mouth of the tunnel, where Raine and Genis had found themselves as the battle migrated across the small area; knives slashed at the siblings, only to be blocked by Raine's staff. "We need to get out of here!" Sophie called to her black-haired partner. The younger woman wasn't faring any better than she; Kratos' attacks were difficult to avoid. Yuan dealt a final blow to the Wind guardian, then ran to help the Chosen as she fended off the fox creature.

"Ugh… Just you wait! I swear we'll kill you all next time!" Both women darted through their attackers, retreating back towards the trail. The black-haired assassin held her arm out; shouted, "Corrine!"

At the sound of the name, the fox sprang forward, landing between the Chosen's group and their assailants. Its small body tensed as it curled slightly, then the tension released, visibly ruffling the golden-brown fur before spreading out in a shockwave, sending everyone staggering; Raine fell back a few steps into the tunnel, and Lloyd was left just outside it. Another smaller wave hit as the creature, along with the two women, vanished into smoke.

"What the—"

A low, unidentifiable rumbling reached his ears; it seemed to come from everywhere around him. As the sound grew louder, it hit him: the tunnel was collapsing, and Raine was inside. "Professor!" he shouted as he sprinted towards her. The roar grew louder as he went, drowning out the cries of his friends behind him. He grabbed his teacher's wrist and tugged her with him deeper into the tunnel. Suddenly, the sound stopped; silence echoed in his ears. Raine lit her staff with a light spell, and Lloyd turned to see the huge pile of stone blocking the entrance.

"We're trapped."

…

Kratos stood staring at the collapsed tunnel, his face the same calm expression he always wore. Beneath the mask, his mind was in turmoil: the mine had just caved in, with Lloyd beneath it.

"Lloyd! Professor Sage! Lloyd!" Colette cried, tears in her eyes and running down her cheeks as her fist pounded on the rock.

"Raine, Sis!" Genis shouted, holding vain hopes that he would be heard, would be answered. Kratos knew no answer would come.

"They can't hear you," he stated coldly to the children; how could they believe that their weak voices would carry through the pile of stone?

Colette cried harder; Genis started clawing at the rocks, attempting to tunnel his way through. It was useless, a pitiful display. It could do no good.

"Calm down," Yuan said, "don't panic."

"Are they all right?" Colette asked him desperately. Yuan looked towards the tunnel, concentrating, then nodded.

"I can feel their mana; they're alive, at least."

…

Lloyd's breathing sped up; his heart pounded in his ears. It was dark, he was surrounded by rock, inside the ground, and he was _trapped_.

"Lloyd." He could feel the Professor beside him, her hand on his shoulder. "Lloyd, calm down."

He was dimly aware of his surroundings; the small illumination cast shadows on the wall braces and the tracks on the floor. It was a mine.

Lloyd had explored the caves he found in the forest as a child; even with little or no light, he had never felt like this. Rock pressed in on him, he could think of nothing else. He was trapped, buried beneath the earth, and he had no way out. No. Way. Out.

"Lloyd, breathe. We're fine." A warm breeze drifted around him; Raine's spell healed his small injuries from the battle and soothed his fear slightly.

"Professor, we're trapped. The entrance is blocked." It was obvious, but it was the only thing he could really think right now.

"Think, Lloyd." She had switched to her "teacher" voice. "The assassin came through this way. What does that mean?"

…

"How the hell are we gonna get them out?" Even Skah was worried, anxiety breaking through his act of indifference.

"The shaft." Kratos spoke without realizing it; all heads turned to him. "The assassin fell through the shaft and made it out here. They'll try to go back through there."

Yuan nodded. "I'm sure Raine's already thought of that; we'll head back to meet them."

Colette nodded and ran back to the path, Genis close behind. Skah followed, and Kratos moved forward, only to be stopped by a hand on his shoulder. "Relax, he's fine," Yuan said quietly. Kratos only nodded and pursued his companions up the trail.

…

"That makes sense."

Already the space seemed to open as he imagined light and air coming down through the shaft: the tunnel the miners would have put in for maintenance, their way out in case of something like this. The slim tunnel that Colette had accidentally opened earlier.

Raine surveyed the surroundings, holding her staff higher to shed more light. It wasn't bright by any means, but she didn't want to increase the mana being used in her spell; she was already somewhat drained from the fight with the assassins, and who knew what they would encounter in here. "Lloyd, we need more light."

He nodded curtly. "Right." Torches hung on the wall every so often; Lloyd snatched one from the socket.

"Do you know how to light that?" his teacher asked nervously.

Lloyd scoffed, shaking his head at her lack of faith. He looked over a few of the rocks on the ground, turning them over with his foot until he found something suitable. Kneeling, he struck one stone against the other until the sparks caught. Triumphantly he raised his torch, smirking at the surprise on the Professor's face. "I grew up in the forest, remember?" he replied to her unasked questions. With a tight smile, she nodded.

"So, we just go back that way, right? I mean, there's only one direction we can go."

How wrong he was. The tunnel soon branched off, and they had no way of knowing which path to follow. After what seemed to Lloyd like hours of wandering, he was wondering how the black-haired girl had found her way out in time to meet up with them.

Suddenly, terror sliced through him again, freezing his blood while the air around him seemed to heat to the temperature of the Triet Ruins. "Professor, what if we can't find the maintenance shaft? What if we get too lost in here and never find it? That girl could have closed it or something. How are we going to find our way out?"

Raine laid her hand on his, the one holding the torch; the flames were sputtering from his uncontrollable shaking. "We're going to find our way out."

"But we've already been in here so long, and we're just getting lost!"

"It hasn't been that long, Lloyd." She pointed through one of the tunnels around them. "That direction was the entrance, so we can try to figure out where we've already been. The others are looking for us, and they'll know to find the shaft. Even if it's been closed, they can open it again. We're fine."

Her cool logic slowly permeated his thoughts, and his shaking subsided. "Yeah…"

"Here." She took the torch from his hand and held it to another on the wall. In a moment, the tunnel flickered with twice the light. "We can light these wherever we find them, so we can mark what tunnels we've passed through."

The fear drained as swiftly as it had come on, leaving Lloyd red-faced in shame. "Right. Let's go." He set off ahead of her, but her hand caught his arm.

"Lloyd…"

He pulled away and kept walking. "Come on, Professor," he said, sounding like his usual carefree self. "Let's get out of here."

…

The maintenance shaft was exactly where the group had left it. Colette immediately ran to the edge of the opening, calling for her friend and her teacher; when she lost her balance at the edge, Genis' hand on her shoulder was the only thing that kept her from falling in.

"Professor! Lloyd! Are you there?" Her shouts echoed faintly down the narrow passage.

"I seriously doubt they can hear you," Skah said callously.

"Then we should go down and find them!" the blond girl retorted quickly, worry obvious in her large blue eyes.

Genis trembled slightly. "I don't know, Colette, I get a really bad feeling about that place…"

Kratos had already felt it: the strange sense of powerful dark mana, and within that an emptiness. It did not bode well.

"Then we have to find them and get them out!"

"Chosen, I don't believe that is wise," Kratos said automatically, even though all his instincts were telling him to go find his son; his job was to protect the Chosen, and it was not safe for her in the mines.

"I agree with Kratos," Yuan said unexpectedly. Kratos looked at him in question. "The fate of the world is at stake, we can't risk harming you, and I don't think Genis should go either."

Skah eyed the shaft warily. "I don't think I want to go down there," he said slowly. "I think I'll stay with the blonde and the kid and wait."

"But someone needs to go look for them!" Colette was adamant.

Yuan shrugged. "Someone needs to watch the lot of you, which only leaves one person to go." Yuan glanced over, rolling his eyes slightly. Kratos could almost hear the half-elf's voice: _I know you won't be satisfied until you go rescue your son. I won't do anything while you're gone._

Without another word, Kratos dropped into the shaft.

…

He had made an utter fool of himself, panicking like that. And twice too! That only made it worse. He had shown weakness to one of the people he had to convince he was strong; now he felt like more of an idiot than when he would stand at the back of the class, unable to answer any of her questions or even to stay awake.

His step was light and his face was cheerful but determined, he was making sure of that. He led the way through more and more tunnels. How many tunnels could there be in one mine? They skipped over those that led downwards, staying on level ground. After all, the shaft they wanted went upwards, it made more sense to stay as near to the surface as possible.

They had only run into small, solitary monsters so far, and he had taken them out easily enough; they weren't too much worse than those in the forest at home. He didn't take any damage worth healing, and none of Raine's light spells had been needed. He was doing his best to prove his strength, to make up for his fear earlier. He didn't even know what had happened to him; he had never faced instinctive terror like that before, at least, not anywhere besides his nightmares.

They entered yet another branch of the tunnel; he had to duck slightly to get through the entrance, but once inside, it opened up taller than any of the tunnels before it. He looked around and found a torch on the wall, and Raine lit it like she had the others. Still, the two flames did little to brighten the chamber; in the light, Lloyd saw that it was even larger than he had originally thought.

"Lloyd, this doesn't seem like the right way. Let's go back."

He shook his head. "No, I want to look around in here." He didn't know what it was, but there was something mysterious about the huge tunnel, something that called to him. He couldn't ignore it.

He walked slowly through the center of the chamber, looking around him, not that there was much to see. Besides its size, there was nothing much that differentiated it from the tunnels he had already been through. All he saw was the rock walls and floor, littered with smaller rocks, tracks for the carts, something black—

Wait.

What was that? He approached the thing as it sat on the floor, beckoning Raine—who had the torch—closer. As the flickering red light fell over its curved surface, Lloyd jumped back: a huge black skull sat before him.

"Will you fight?"

The deep, broken voice emanated from the skull; its eye sockets lit with what looked like small flames, and the jaw creaked.

"W-what?" Although he didn't want to show it, the talking skull was thoroughly freaking him out.

"You are strong ones. Will you fight?"

His first thought was "no way in hell", but before he said it, more ideas flooded his head. This thing, besides the fact that it was talking while it should have been dead, didn't look that difficult to beat; in fact, he had already slain more intimidating monsters in the mine. He had already managed to break down twice, and defeating this thing could help make up for that.

"Lloyd, I don't think—"

"Yeah, I'll fight you."

Suddenly, the thing seemed to grow, rising out of the ground and sprouting four arms, and a—a _tail_? "…the hell?" Each separate arm of the skeleton held a weapon: one double-edged sword, a scythe, a wavy sword with serrated edges, and a type of hooked blade. Suddenly Lloyd was _really_ starting to regret his choice.

The monstrous skeleton let out a huge, dank breath, and Raine's torch was instantly snuffed, as was the one in the back of the tunnel. It was total darkness; he couldn't see his own hands holding his swords, much less the thing he was supposed to be fighting.

Raine began chanting a spell; white runes glowed around her, giving Lloyd enough light to see a glint off one of the swords as it rushed at him. Yelling in surprise, he leapt backwards, landing himself on his rear as the weapon slammed into the ground about a foot in front of him.

"Photon!"

The spell lit the chamber brilliantly for a moment, and Lloyd caught sight of the monster clutching its head in two of its hands as the attack hit, but soon the light went out, leaving Lloyd as blind as he had been before.

"Professor, keep casting!" he shouted just before the white runes appeared again. Lloyd leapt back again, then quickly to the side as the array of swords struck once more.

"Shit," he muttered as the attacks kept coming, faster and faster, and he worked harder to evade them, struggling to hurt the monster. Deciding that running back to dodge wasn't going to work, he sprinted towards the skeleton, skirting the blades aimed for him, and swung his swords, sending bursts of energy that left small scratches across the black bones. Triumphant at his small accomplishment, he didn't see the hooked blade coming until it was upon him. The hook gouged into his back, tearing muscle. He jerked instinctively away, running around the monster to attack from behind, only to be met with another of its four arms swinging at him. He didn't think he'd be able to keep this up for too much longer.

…

Kratos sprinted through the mine, senses attuned to the mana he could feel deeper in. Unnatural amounts of dark mana had coalesced somewhere in the tunnels, and as he got closer, he could feel two other, distinct mana signatures: Lloyd and Raine.

He ducked through the entrance to another tunnel, and his angelic sight adjusted to the almost nonexistent amount of light in the cavern to find Raine alternating between attacks and healing the brunette teen, who seemed to desperately need it. He was dashing around the demon's legs, darting away from the varied attacks, sometimes leaping forward to slash while the monster finished its own assault. Kratos' muscles tensed as he ran forward to aid his son.

Lloyd glanced back at the sound of a sword being unsheathed. "What the—Kratos?"

"Get out of the way," he said as he charged past the boy, desperately hoping that for once his son would follow orders. At first it seemed that he was inclined to do as instructed; many injuries had been sustained as he fought—Kratos didn't even want to think of how serious they may be—and he panted with the effort of trying to hold off the demon single-handedly for so long. However, only moments passed before Lloyd's intentions changed.

The monster was taking much more damage from Kratos' attacks than it had from Lloyd's, and in failing to dispose of the threat in front of it, the skeleton turned its attention to the next menace, the one both preying on its weakness and keeping the others alive: Raine.

"Professor, look out!" Lloyd yelled as the skeleton prepared to attack; the woman looked up just in time to cancel her spell and jump inelegantly out of the way. However, it was obvious that she couldn't dodge for long, and the attacks didn't stop.

Lloyd sprang forward, past Kratos, and the man's heart stopped as he realized the boy's plan just moments before he executed it. He watched as Lloyd leaped, using his exsphere's power to gain incredible height, and latched onto the skeleton's back. He clung on haphazardly with one hand; the other held a sword as he attempted to do some kind of damage to the monster.

"Lloyd!" Raine screamed as the skeleton reached back, weapons in hand, and tried to forcibly dislodge the boy, but somehow he managed so stay on while dodging the blades. Kratos attacked madly, hoping to bring the monster down before Lloyd sustained any more damage, but the skeleton kicked him away, slashing at him with the scythe.

It seemed to realize that conventional methods wouldn't affect the attacker on his back. While Kratos watched helplessly, the skeleton slammed itself into the wall, crushing Lloyd against the rock. The teen slipped from his perch, falling with a sickening thud to the cavern floor. Kratos could see dark blood in his chocolate hair.

He redoubled his attacks on the demon, sword slashing, sending waves of energy at his enemy. He heard Raine heal Lloyd behind him; he wanted nothing more than to aid his son, but to keep his cover, he had to defeat the monster first. Besides, it would hardly do any good for him to take care of Lloyd while it still attacked.

"Leave the boy for now," he commanded. "Attack. Its weakness is light!"

He heard the woman comply, heard her chanting a light spell. His assault continued, adding special techs and magic where possible. He felt the mana release of Raine's spell before he saw the light; he knew it would not be enough to defeat the monster. When the attack appeared, he pushed his own mana into it, fueling the spell, adding an intensity it lacked before. The thing screamed as the attack hit and fell to its knees, arms dropping to its sides, losing grip on the weapons. Slowly, bones fell into ashes, and it toppled forward, body disintegrating. Soon, only the head remained; the fiery eyes gazed forth at him. A low cackle emanated from the skull as it disappeared.

Kratos turned, dreading the sight awaiting him. The teen was unconscious; just a still form on the rock floor. Kratos crouched next to him, felt for a pulse; it was there, pounding steadily.

"First Aid," came the soft mutter beside him. Pale green light surrounded the boy, gently healing the myriad cuts and already-forming bruises. He took his son in his arms, carefully standing up and turning to face the sliver-haired elf.

"You came down through the shaft, did you not?" she asked. Kratos nodded. The woman turned and led the way down the tunnel further, the way he had come, and he followed, cradling his son against him.

Light pierced through the gloom. Raine called up the shaft. "Colette? Genis?"

"Professor!" echoed the relieved reply of the Chosen. "Are you okay?"

"We're fine, Colette," the woman sighed.

From above, Kratos heard worries of how they would get out; he couldn't focus on them, his attention fixed on Lloyd, who still hadn't regained consciousness. It was all he could do not to pull his wings out and carry him up the shaft immediately.

"Chosen, are you able to fly down here?" he asked calmly; the girl readily agreed, and descended, pink wings keeping her suspended just above the ground. "Carry Lloyd up," he instructed, gently helping the blonde take hold of her friend. "Can you do that?"

A resolute nod answered him. Kratos sighed softly in relief as she went.

…

The group trekked quickly back through the trail, reaching the end just before nightfall. Camp was made just beyond the pass; hills surrounded them still, but they weren't the mountainous formations they had grown accustomed to. Genis served a light supper, but no one had much appetite. The stress of the day had left them drained, and the only thing they could manage was to darkly ponder everything that had happened.

"Lloyd, I'm so glad you're okay," Colette muttered, leaning against his shoulder. They sat by the fire, with Genis and Raine close beside them; the boy snuggled under his sister's arm.

"Don't worry about me," he replied softly. "I've had worse. Are you all right? I mean, after what happened earlier…"

Silence fell between them as they remembered the betrayal.

"I still can't believe Sophie would do that…" Colette murmured, head hung. The fire reflected on the tears in her eyes, although none fell.

"She's not Sophie, remember?" Genis said without any real emotion. "That other girl called her something else."

"Rin," Yuan stated blankly from his seat behind them, furthest from the fire. "Her real name is Rin."

Lloyd turned on him, glaring. "You knew that, and you didn't mention it?"

The man only shrugged. "If I was using a false name and ran into someone I knew, I wouldn't exactly want them ratting me out."

"But you knew her! Didn't you know she was trying to kill Colette?"

"Do you think she would mention that in casual conversation? Besides, we didn't actually talk all that much, if you know what I mean…"

Raine looked at the half-elf, her lapis eyes cold. "Is there anything else you've neglected to mention to us? Do you happen to know her accomplice's name as well?"

"No, I don't." Yuan stood up, brushing his ponytail back over his shoulders. "If you all don't mind, I'm going for a walk. I'll be back soon."

"But Mr. Yuan, there's still monsters," Colette protested, staring up at him in worry. "Will you be all right?"

"I'll be fine, Chosen," he replied carelessly as he walked away, back towards the pass they had just left. He was aware of Kratos following him a minute later, and paused to wait for his oldest friend, although he knew the man would scoff at the term.

"You hired them."

It was a statement of fact, and Yuan sighed. "Yes, what of it?"

"You're bringing assassins from Tethe'alla?" Kratos sighed, rubbing his temples. "We knew the Renegades were dealing with the royalty, however," he paused to send a glare at the half-elf, "I did not believe that you would go this far."

"I will go as far as is necessary. This situation was created by drastic measures; it follows that drastic measures are required to overcome it."

Kratos snorted, a small smile curling his lips against his will. "Next you're going to say these are desperate times. Can you think of nothing more original?"

Yuan scowled. "At least I provide conversation instead of standing silently in the background."

"I am not going to have this argument with you again."

"And yet you follow our script to the word." Yuan chuckled softly. "We have known each other far too long, Kratos."

"I agree."

"Harsh." Yuan gazed up at the stars, remembering the times, millennia ago, when Kratos would point out the constellations to him, telling Mithos and Martel their stories… "It's strange, traveling together again. I thought those days were over, and yet here we are. Sometimes it seems as if we're still there, attempting to stop that accursed war."

"Things are not the same anymore, Yuan."

"I know that all too well." He glanced at his friend. "And yet you can't help but remember different times, with Lloyd again…"

"Don't, Yuan," he snapped. The half-elf realized belatedly that he had pushed his friend too far tonight. The auburn-haired man turned without another word, swiftly retreating to the distant campfire.

"I'm sorry, my friend," Yuan murmured as he watched the dark form disappear, knowing his words would carry. "I'm sorry it comes to this."


	11. In Izoold

**First of all, I am officially on Christmas break, so chapters should be coming quicker for the next few weeks. Anyway, last chapter was too serious, so I decided to lighten the mood a little. Enjoy the fun, and please review. Reviews make the authoress happy.**

…

"We're here!"

Lloyd stood triumphantly in front of the small fishing village, his friends beside him, and the adults behind him sighing.

"We're finally here! Now we can go get a boat!"

Just then, a huge wind picked up, blowing dirt and sand into Lloyd's face, leaving him to wipe his eyes furiously. He grimaced, spitting out the dirt in his mouth.

Skah scoffed. "That's real dignified, kid." He brushed past the teen and walked leisurely through the town's gates, leaving the rest of the group to follow behind him.

"Well, I don't know about the rest of you," Skah said, "but I don't think we're gonna be able to get on a boat today, so why don't I go to the inn and grab us a few rooms?"

Yuan shrugged. "I'll come." He glanced at the anxious children ahead of him, then gestured for them to go. "The rest of you can explore."

"Yes!" Lloyd exclaimed, pumping his fist in the air. "Come on, let's go!" He ran forward into the town with a blonde, two elves, and an exasperated mercenary behind him.

He soon found that Izoold didn't have much to explore.

"This place is smaller than Iselia!" he moaned as he stood at the back of the town, looking back at the entrance, which was still easily visible.

"But there's a beach," Colette said, eyeing the water in delight. "Maybe we could go swimming later!"

"Nah, it's not warm enough… Let's just head back to the inn for now." They turned and started weaving their way through the haphazardly placed houses when they heard a rather loud conversation—almost an argument—coming from ahead of them, getting closer.

"We've already searched halfway across this Goddess-forsaken place, Aster, and we're not even sure it's _here_! Let's face it, we just can't do this on our own! We need to find a way back and get help."

"Oh, yeah, great idea, Richter! That would _totally_ work! 'Excuse us, we seem to have lost our experiment over in Sylvarant, do you mind helping us form a search party?' I can just see how the Pope and King would take that one. How would we even get b—OW!"

That was the moment that the owners of the voices rounded the corner, smashing directly into Lloyd. Both he and the blond teen stumbled backwards; the other boy would have fallen if not caught by the red-haired man beside him.

"Oh, Goddess, I'm sorry!" the teen said frantically. "Are you all right?"

Lloyd shrugged, smiling. "Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about it." This was the first good look he got of the boy; he was blonde, about Lloyd's age, maybe a bit younger. He wore a white coat over simple black garments; the only things that really stood out were the brown leather boots that reached past his knees. Lloyd, being Lloyd, felt the need to comment. "I like your boots!"

The blonde grinned up at his friend. "Thanks! See, Richter? I told you they weren't ridiculous!"

The redhead scoffed. "No, what you said was 'chicks dig them'."

"Whatever." The blonde turned back to Lloyd. "I'm Aster Morgen, this is Richter Abend."

"Lloyd Irving," he replied. "This is Professor Sage and her brother Genis, and Colette Brunel, and that's Kratos Aurion."

Two sets of green eyes bugged. "Colette Brunel, like, the Chosen?" Aster asked, shocked.

"Yeah, that's me," Colette giggled awkwardly, as she did whenever the subject arose.

"Huh. Surprising," Richter said, looking her over coolly.

"Why?" Colette tilted her head to the side curiously, then her face fell. "I guess I don't really _look_ like a Chosen…"

"No!" Aster said quickly. "That's not it at all! We just didn't expect the Chosen to be so… sweet! Or young, for that matter…"

"I-I'm sorry…"

"No, it's not a bad thing!" Aster smiled at her reassuringly. "I mean, I'm young too. I was just a bit surprised is all."

"Excuse me," Raine said, "but we overheard that you have a problem? Is there anything we can do to help?"

"Oh great," Genis muttered to Lloyd. "She heard them say 'experiment' and now she's interested."

Richter gave his friend a warning glance, which Aster blatantly ignored. "Actually, maybe there is. You've been traveling this continent, right?" As they nodded their assent, he grinned. "Could you tell me if you've seen kind of a monster around here? I mean, not a normal monster."

Lloyd frowned. "I don't know, we've seen a lot of weird monsters…"

"Could you give us a description, maybe?" Genis asked obnoxiously.

"Uh, it's about the size of a wolf, maybe a bit bigger," Aster said, "and it looks kind of like a wolf on two legs, but I think it can run on four too, right Richter?" He barely waited for a nod before continuing. "It's mostly white, with red legs and eyes, and really big fangs."

"I'm afraid we haven't seen anything of the kind," Raine replied. "What exactly is this specimen? Do you know the species?"

"Well, that's rather complicated…" the blond boy replied, "I have some notes on it, if you want to take a look."

Richter placed a hand warningly on Aster's shoulder. "I really don't think—"

"I'd love to look at your notes," Raine interrupted, eyes gleaming in excitement. "Why don't you two come back to the inn with us?"

"Yeah," Lloyd nodded emphatically. "Come on, you can meet our friends Yuan and Skah and my dog Noishe!"

"A dog? Great! I love dogs!"

Colette beamed. "Me too!"

Aster started off behind Lloyd with Richter at his side, looking extremely annoyed. "Really, Aster, how in the _world_ do you come up with these stupid ideas?"

"I don't know! Sometimes it's like my brain has a mind of its own!"

Richter only sighed.

…

"So, here are some sketches of what it looks like, and some notes on its behavior as we observed it."

Aster and Raine were bent over a table in the inn's small lobby; the table was strewn haphazardly with papers and notebooks.

"Is the specimen male or female?"

"Male."

"Standing on two legs… how does it balance? Oh, I see, this counterbalances so it won't topple over."

"Yes, exactly, and these joints work as well for arms as they do as legs for running."

"Fascinating!"

"Oh, brother," Genis groaned, "She's getting _way_ too into this…"

He stood a safe distance away with Lloyd, Colette, and Richter, who was watching the silver-haired woman with a mixture of disgust and grudging admiration. "She is rather too enthusiastic, but she grasps the concepts quite well."

Lloyd rolled his eyes. "Well, _duh_, the Professor's like, the smartest person ever!"

The redhead looked at the teen skeptically over his small glasses. "I see…" He turned to Genis. "So you and your sister are…?"

"Elves," Genis replied quickly. Richter nodded once, saying nothing more.

Meanwhile, Lloyd and Colette walked cautiously forward to look at some of the sketches and drawings.

"Lloyd, it kind of looks like Noishe, doesn't it?" Colette asked.

Raine lifted her head suddenly, looking intently at her students. "Why, it almost does… is it possible that this could be related to Noishe?"

Aster shook his head quickly. "I don't think so; I believe this is one-of-a-kind."

"But so is Noishe," Colette replied.

"But Noishe is totally different than this thing!" Lloyd protested. "I mean, he _definitely_ can't walk on two legs like this, at least not for long…"

The blond boy looked thoughtful. "Noishe is your dog, right Lloyd? Could I see him?"

"What a marvelous idea!"

Lloyd had a bad feeling about this.

…

"Whine!"

"Just… hold… still!"

The two avid—though Lloyd thought "rabid" suited them a little better—researchers were currently engaged in trying to keep the sliver and green dog with them long enough to examine, and so far the dog was winning.

"Come on, Noishe, please just stay still so I can look at you!" Aster grunted as he struggled to hold on to the beast's middle. Noishe made no sign of stopping; if anything, his struggles increased.

"Have the two of you thought of this?" Richter asked calmly as he stepped forward with a plate of bacon, holding it out towards the dog, whose eyes immediately widened. With a bark, he sprang forward, landing on Richter and sending the plate toppling. He eagerly started eating the treat off the ground.

"Brilliant, Richter!" Aster exclaimed, running over to look at the animal. "Relax, I'm not going to hurt you," he murmured as he stroked Noishe's side. "I just want to admire you."

The dog gave an equivalent of a grin before licking the boy's face, leaving Aster coated in bacon-scented dog saliva, looking _extremely_ grossed out, but the event gave Raine time to close in and examine Noishe against one of Aster's drawings. "Hmm, the patterns of the coloring are similar, as is the size, but other than that…"

After furiously wiping his face, Aster took a good look at the grinning silver animal. "There's a slight resemblance, but it's definitely not the same."

The silver-haired woman sighed. "Oh, and here I thought I may have clues as to what this creature actually is…"

Lloyd scowled. "How many times do I have to tell you, Professor, Noishe is just a dog?"

Noishe gave a laughing bark in response.

"He's extremely intelligent for a dog," Aster said speculatively, then sighed. "I'd like to look into it, but I'm afraid I don't have the time."

"He is _not_ a dog," Raine stated adamantly, arms crossed. "There is no breed of dog this large."

Lloyd scoffed. "What else would he be?"

"I haven't quite figured that out yet."

…

"Well, this is boring," Genis complained as Raine and Aster, with Richter included this time, continued poring over notes on who-knows-what.

"We could go back to the beach…" Colette suggested; Lloyd shrugged.

"Sure, maybe we can find something to do this time."

They wandered dully back towards the water, letting Colette walk along the sand for a while before heading to the docks, where there seemed to be the most activity.

"It's a Katz!"

Genis pointed at what looked like just someone in a cat suit. "Um… what?" Lloyd asked, feeling the familiar sensation of being out of the loop.

"Katz, Lloyd, don't you know anything?"

"Apparently not."

Genis sighed. "A Katz is an inhuman creature, much like elves or dwarves, that—"

"Okay, I don't really care that much." Lloyd could feel a lecture coming on, and he wanted to avoid that at all costs.

Suddenly, the creature called out, "Hey you!" The young trio turned to see the Katz pointing at Genis. "Come here and let me teach you a game!"

The boy glanced at his friends, who nodded encouragement, then ran off to talk to the strange creature, who started explaining something with wild gesticulations.

"What the hell?"

Lloyd whirled around to see Skah behind him, arms crossed as he watched the unusual sight.

"I dunno, it just yelled for Genis go play or something. Hey, did you meet Aster and Richter?"

Skah looked blank. "Who?"

"We met them earlier. The Professor was helping them with some research or something in the lobby."

"Oh, that explains it. I heard the psycho teacher raving about something in the lobby, so I just climbed out the window to avoid her."

"Nice."

"Lloyd, come look at this!"

He turned his head to see Colette by a bulletin board of sorts, examining a poster. "What is it?"

"It's you!"

"Seriously? One of these again?" Lloyd ran over, followed by Skah, and groaned at the poster of him. "Why do they have to have these up?"

"What the hell, kid?"

Lloyd tore the poster down, crumpling it before shoving it in his pocket. "The Desians put it up," he muttered, trying not to draw too much attention.

Skah looked incredibly amused. "Let me see!" He lunged for it, Lloyd dodged, and a small scrape ensued, at the end of which Lloyd looked defeated and Skah laughed loudly at the poster. "_That's_supposed to be _you_?" Lloyd glared. "Well, I guess I can see that. Yeah, it does look like you!"

"Give it back, Skah."

"You kidding? I'm keeping this. I think I might frame it!" With that, the man walked away, still laughing.

…

"What research were you doing, exactly?"

Aster shrugged awkwardly. "Well, we were studying mana and those who control it—"

"Magic users?"

"No, I mean on a bigger scale. Like Summon Spirits."

"I see… and where does this creature come in?"

"Well, we… we kind of created him in our lab. We think he can control mana on a large scale, but he escaped before we could finish our research."

Richter scoffed. "Almost before we could start."

"How did you do it?"

"I'd rather not say—"

"Shut up, Genis!"

Raine looked up to see her brother and students enter, laughing about something or other—who knew with them?

"Having fun, Professor?"

"Yes, Colette dear." She smiled at the girl, who beamed back. She was so easy to please…

"So Professor Raine, do you know anything about the subject?"

Ignoring her students, she turned back to the boy. "I know some, yes, although it's not something I've studied in detail. I've never had the resources." She shot the males a suspicious glance; Richter seemed indifferent, but Aster looked slightly self-conscious.

"Anyway, since you're a… an elf, you'd notice mana anomalies, right? Have you felt anything like that?"

"Actually, we found something when we released the Seal of Fire, a strange gem…"

"Really? Can I see it?"

Her eyes widened in surprise as she looked at the blonde; his emerald eyes had lit up, an extremely excited expression was on his face. Even Richter looked interested; jade eyes glinted behind his glasses.

"Do you know something about it?"

"Yes, actually. It has a lot to do with our research—"

"Professor!" Lloyd came running up to her. "Come on, we're going to the docks to see if we can get a boat, and Kratos and Yuan said you had to come! We can't go without you."

She looked wistfully at the notes before her. "I'll be there in a minute, Lloyd." The boy ran off, leaving her with the two researchers. "I suppose we will finish this conversation later."

"Yeah, Professor, there's a lot I want to talk to you about."

…

"So, Professor…"

The woman sighed. "Yes Lloyd?"

The teen shifted uncomfortably, not looking at her, but instead watching Yuan and Kratos try to bargain unsuccessfully with some of the captains at the docks. "What were you and those guys doing?"

"Research, Lloyd. We were examining their notes."

"Okay…" He scuffed his foot against the wooden boards beneath him, glancing around. Genis was playing with the Katz again as Colette watched, and he hadn't seen Skah since earlier. "They seem pretty nice and all."

"Yes, so it seems." She sighed. "What is it you want to know, Lloyd?"

He could feel his face heat up. "Nothing, really, I mean—"

"This is completely useless!" Yuan had come storming back. "None of them want to travel, 'too many monsters', they say, and they won't listen to any argument!"

Kratos walked sedately back. "I have had no luck either; it seems we may be staying here for a while."

Raine sighed. "Lloyd, go get Colette and Genis, we can head back to the inn. I should go talk to Aster again…"

"I don't think so!"

They all turned to stare at him; he could feel his blush again. "I mean, Professor, shouldn't you do something else? You've been in there forever, just looking at papers and stuff. Wouldn't it be better if you stayed out here, to get some fresh air or something?"

Raine stared at him for a moment, then shook her head exasperatedly. "Let's go."

…

"Look at that kid!"

"What about him?"

"Well, doesn't he look kinda like this?"

The man held out a poster: a badly drawn picture took up most of the space, along with a small description of his appearance and his crimes, and a reward. The name was printed in bold letters: LLOYD IRVING.

"Well, yeah, I guess."

"Has anyone heard his name?"

"Why?"

"Well, it looks like there's a pretty big reward up for this kid and if this is really him…"

Murmurs went through the small group as ideas spread, plans began to form. "Here he comes, listen to them…"

The voices were faint, but still easily understood: "Geez, Lloyd, you can be so stupid sometimes!" "Genis, be nice, Lloyd's smart in his own way."

"It's him."

"It _is_!"

"Let's do it; we'll split the reward evenly between the lot of us…"

None of the sailors noticed that the man who had started the plot had disappeared.

…

Aster and Richter were waiting in the lobby when they got back.

"There you guys are! Did you have any luck getting a boat?"

"No, unfortunately," the Professor replied, shaking her head. "It seems we'll be here for a while longer."

"That's too bad." The boy looked anxious, and quickly broke into the subject he was obviously worrying about. "About what we were talking about earlier, Professor, can we—"

Yuan started, glancing toward the window. "It looks like we might have a problem," he said before approaching the glass. "Shit," he muttered suddenly, pulling back. "Lloyd, did you find another Desian poster here?"

"Yeah, why—no. Don't tell me there's Desians."

"No, but—We'd better get out of here. Looks like some people want the reward for turning you in."

Outside, shouts started to grow. Lloyd glanced out and saw fire; torches, but from the looks of those people, they wouldn't hesitate to start up something else. "We've gotta go." He wouldn't let this be another Iselia. "We need to go before anyone gets hurt."

"Agreed." Kratos took hold of Colette's wrist, looking towards the others as he gave instructions. "We'll leave through the back; you two," he glanced towards Aster and Richter, "after we're out, let them in, let them see we're not here. We head out, go whichever way seems safest."

The group nodded solemnly.

"Good luck," Aster murmured.

Yuan scowled. "From the looks of things out there, we're going to need more than that."

"You'll be fine." The blond boy grinned. "Courage is the magic that turns dreams into reality!"

Genis scoffed. "That's even dorkier than those Dwarven Vows Lloyd spits out all the time!"

"Time to go," Kratos interrupted before any argument could start.

"Where's Skah?" Colette gasped as they dashed around houses. They had tried to get to the gates of town, but their pursuers had obviously expected that and posted guards; they were attempting to hide, but given the size of the town, it would only be a matter of time until they were found.

"Looking for me?" The man appeared in a small gap between two buildings. "Come on, I've got a way out for us." He turned, darting quickly away, leaving the others no choice but to follow.

They found themselves near the dock again; a few frightened villagers huddled, fearful of the sailors ransacking their town. A few sailors prowled as well, eyes open for their target.

"Why are they doing this?" Colette's eyes were wide and troubled. "Lloyd didn't do anything to them, so why would they try to give him to the Desians?"

"Chosen, these people are desperate," Kratos explained softly. "Times are hard, and there are those who would do anything to get ahead."

"Come on Colette, we'll talk about it later," Lloyd told her, his hand comfortingly on her shoulder. "We just have to get out now."

"Let's go!" Skah hissed before leaving their shelter; the sailors were distracted by the children crying in their mothers' arms; they gruffly demanded that the children "shut the hell up." He ran to a boat on the pier, a boat that had already been mostly untied; only a single line held it in its place. He hopped over the railing, gesturing for them to follow, which they did. "Now let's get out of here!" He untied the line, pushing them away from the dock. "Let's get this thing moving," he grunted, moving to adjust a few things.

"We have to get Noishe!" Lloyd searched for his dog; they had left him outside the town, as most people didn't feel comfortable around a creature that size.

"No, we have to leave!"

Lloyd whistled, high and clear, and almost immediately saw his best friend come running towards the pier. With an incredible leap, he cleared the growing space between the boat and its dock, landing with a thump that rocked the whole craft. "Good boy," the brunette murmured as he scratched his dog's ears. Noishe's tail wagged happily.

"There they are! They're getting away!"

It was too late; they were already moving, and as the sailors ran to their boats to follow, they found strategic damages; none of the vessels were capable of sailing.

"Skah, may I ask who this boat belongs to?"

Heads turned to look at Raine, then to Skah for an answer to her question. He shrugged. "Some of those bastards back there. Who cares?"

"You _stole_it?"

Skah's crimson eyes widened as he raised an eyebrow incredulously: he had never heard Colette sound so angry.

"How could you steal someone's boat? That's… that's _wrong_!"

"What's your issue? If you didn't notice, they were kind of after our hides. Would you rather I let them find you?"

"Chosen, while you may not _agree_ with his actions, we didn't have many options," Yuan stated coldly. "While it may offend your morals, we _did_make it out of there alive."

She only turned her back.

Skah sighed. "We can have someone bring the boat back once we get to Palmacosta. Does that make you happy?"

He still received no reply. There was a long silence before Lloyd asked something he deemed rather important:

"Do any of you even _know_ how to sail a boat?"


	12. En Route

**Please forgive the lateness of this chapter, I had wanted it posted by Thursday, but I was also working on All I Want for Christmas and had some other things going on, so… this was put off. Many thanks to MysticYoshie again. Hopefully next chapter shall be posted by Wednesday. Anyway, R&R please!**

…

The sun glinted off the waves; rainbows sparkled on the small droplets that the ship displaced. The sky was a perfect blue and the sea reflected it. It had to be one of the most spectacular things Lloyd had ever seen. He stood against the railing, leaning over as far as he could while still keeping his balance. Noishe sat beside him, tongue hanging out as he grinned at the spray hitting his nose.

"Lloyd Irving, get back from there! You're going to fall!"

He turned, leaning back on the rail as he addressed his teacher. "Don't worry, Professor, I'll be fine!"

Raine hadn't been doing well on the boat; she kept herself below deck if at all possible, and when she came up top, she wouldn't go anywhere near the edge. Poor Genis wasn't let out of her sight, but Lloyd and Colette were free to wander as they pleased.

In response to the Professor's glare, Lloyd grinned. "Watch this." He hoisted himself up, sitting on the rail and locking his feet behind the bars before leaning back as far as he could until he was almost parallel to the water below him. His hands were casually folded behind his head.

"Stop messing around, you're going to give her a heart attack." Lloyd was pulled forcefully forward by Skah, who sent him tumbling face-first to the deck. "Professor, why don't you go back below," the blonde suggested, opening the door for her. That was strange; Skah was being thoughtful? Lloyd frowned slightly as he watched. Raine gave him a small, guarded smile as she stepped through the door, calling for Genis to follow her.

Brunette teen and silver-haired boy groaned at once. "Come on, Sis, I want to stay out here longer!"

"Professor, let Genis stay!"

Raine frowned, but Skah reassured her. "Leave the kid up here. We'll make sure he doesn't fall off or anything." She looked doubtful, but eventually conceded.

Lloyd sat with his back to the railing, and Skah joined him. "The woman's paranoid," he muttered. Lloyd laughed softly.

"Yeah… I don't think she likes water much."

"Oh really, I never would have guessed."

Lloyd closed his eyes and tilted his head back, enjoying the warmth of sunlight on his face. He heard Genis and Colette talking animatedly about what would await in Palmacosta, but to tell the truth, he didn't really care. He loved the salty taste to the air, the excitement of sailing. He didn't want to leave the ship.

"Lunch, Lloyd!" His eyes opened immediately and he sprang up, joining his friends for sandwiches with Skah right behind him. They talked and laughed, but some of it was forced; he couldn't feel comfortable while Colette was still ignoring Skah. Lloyd could see how she felt, but still, it seemed harsh.

Soon enough they finished their food; Colette ran below deck to give some to the Professor, and Lloyd bundled up a few more sandwiches and left to find Kratos and Yuan.

The two men had sailed before; therefore they had been left to control the boat. Skah seemed to know what he was doing as well, so he helped from time to time when it was necessary. Lloyd, despite how much he wanted to learn, was allowed to do almost nothing.

"Hey guys, lunch!" he exclaimed as he found them.

"Oh, joy," Yuan muttered, "he's back."

"That's nice, thanks Yuan. Maybe next time I _won't_ bring you anything."

When Yuan simply rolled his eyes, Lloyd turned away from him toward Kratos. The mercenary was looking over several charts that had been found aboard the ship, apparently navigating.

"Sandwich?" he asked, holding the morsel out for him to take. Kratos received it with a soft word of thanks, but did not look up, and only set it down out of his way. Lloyd felt a bit of disappointment at the man's detached attitude; as much as Lloyd hated to admit it, Kratos was becoming somewhat of an idol to him. Lloyd had never met his equal in swordsmanship and would have liked to become as talented. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Yeah, stay out of the way." Lloyd glared at Yuan; the half-elf was adjusting some of the rigging and not looking at him.

"We have everything under control, Lloyd. You do not have to do anything."

"But I _want_ to—!" Lloyd cut off, realizing he was whining; he did not want to come off as a child to either Kratos or Yuan. "I-I mean, I want to learn…"

Yuan snorted, and Lloyd could practically hear the cobalt rolling his eyes. Kratos sighed and looked up at Lloyd.

"There really is nothing that we need you to do, nor is there anything that I can much show you at the moment. Go back to your friends."

He made it sound so final. Lloyd felt himself deflate; was there no way to do anything? He put the sandwich meant for Yuan down next to Kratos' and left to return to the others.

…

In an attempt to distract herself, Raine had taken out the jewel from the Triet Ruins and proceeded to examine it, writing notes on anything she found or theorized.

Absorbed in her work, she didn't hear anyone come below. "So, what have you figured out?"

She jumped, turning in her chair to see Skah behind her, examining her notes. "Why do you want to know?"

"I'm curious." Approaching the chair next to her, he asked, "Mind if I join you?" When she didn't protest, he sat down, reaching out to grab the gem. "I want to know what this is," he murmured. "I mean, it was valuable enough to be guarded down there, but not so much that whoever left it there wanted it around."

"Valuable… or dangerous."

"Yeah, I had thought of that too." He looked up, crimson eyes meeting hers. "But you don't seem too worried about that."

"It's not as if I'm not being cautious," she huffed, defensive.

"No, I didn't mean it like that," he quickly corrected himself, worried that he'd offended her. "I just… want to know what you think."

She sighed, looking back down at her notes. "I haven't been able to find much of anything yet, I'm afraid. If only I had been able to go over Aster's notes with him…"

"What?"

"Aster said he had done research on the subject; he seemed to know what this was, however, we had to leave before we could look into it."

"That would have been helpful." Skah sighed. "So you don't have any theories?"

"Not _theories_, but I have noticed several rather strange things." At his raised eyebrow, she continued. "You wouldn't be able to notice this, but it almost seems to give off its own mana. It almost… radiates with fire mana. I didn't notice at the Seal because of the power already there, but I felt it as soon as you gave it to me."

"Its own mana…" Skah looked at the gem speculatively. "Do you think it could be related to the Giant Kharlan Tree?"

"That tree is a myth."

"You can't know that for sure. And I mean, it was supposed to give off mana, and the seals were created for the Chosen to release after the Ancient War supposedly killed the tree, right? Well, this gives off mana and was at the seal. Makes sense, right?"

"Yes, except for the tree. No one really believes it actually existed."

"…I guess you're right." Skah leaned back in his chair, depositing the gem on the table. "You have any ideas then?"

Instead of answering his question, she carefully picked up the jewel, turning it over in her slender fingers. "This will seem strange, but… does it seem to you that this isn't its natural form?" Without waiting for a reply, she continued, "It feels almost like its been warped, like it shouldn't be in this state."

"Huh," was all the reply she received.

…

Hours later, Skah emerged from below deck to grab some food, joining Lloyd, Colette, and Genis at the bow.

"Where've you been?"

"Below." He took a bite of the rice ball in his hand. "This is good."

"What were you doing down there?" Lloyd pressed.

The blonde shrugged. "Hanging with the Professor, looking at that weird jewel."

"Seriously?"

"What?"

Lloyd shrugged, forcing himself not to glare. "You just didn't seem like the studying type."

"So what, I'm not allowed to have brains _and_ brawn? I didn't know I had to choose one or the other."

"Whatever. So, did you figure anything out?"

"Not really. We just kinda tossed some ideas around. It kept her mind off the whole 'I'm on a boat in the middle of the ocean' issue."

"Since when do you care how she feels?"

"Since when are you so defensive about it?"

Lloyd looked away, taking a bite of his own rice ball. "Sorry, it's just kinda weird for you. I didn't think you guys liked each other."

"Well, she's kind of a psycho, but she's got brains. And I still don't think she likes me much. And besides," he shot a glance at Colette, "is it a crime to _not_ want to be hated by everyone I'm traveling with?"

That made sense. "I guess not. Sorry for prying."

"Whatever, Lloyd. Hey kid, are there any more of these rice balls?"

…

Lloyd couldn't sleep. Normally it was only when he woke up in the middle of the night that he couldn't fall back asleep—insomniatic, or something like that—but it was rare that he could not fall asleep in the first place. Perhaps it was the rocking of the ship or simply all the excitement of being on the ship, but he was having difficulty drifting off…

He sighed and rose, careful not to wake any of the others, and slipped out of the hull of the boat. The strong smell of fresh, salty sea air hit him, as well as the cool night air. Lloyd looked up and was amazed to see the sky was perfectly clear, not a cloud to be seen, and millions of stars were spread out; they felt close enough to touch. Lloyd felt his jaw drop; it was spectacular!

Lloyd didn't even bother to move, but sat down where he was, watching the twinkling diamonds as they winked down at him. He smiled and allowed himself to be taken over by the memories that they brought; most of them were just feelings, like a tug on his heart as there was a flash of memory that vanished as soon as it came. Sometimes images, some that he could not even understand; the stars seen though something spiked and red, a soft silver glow more vibrant than the stars themselves, a piece of fabric that he wanted to reach out and grab a hold of.

Sounds: the soft hum of a woman's voice, the deep baritone of a male's. Warmth, happiness… the only memories of his life before Dirk came like this. The only memories of his parents, near disappeared with time, were written in the stars above.

"Lloyd?"

Lloyd jumped, looking around to see Kratos staring at him. "Lloyd, what are you doing up?"

Lloyd felt a blush rise in his cheeks, he had been caught with his guard completely down, something he doubted Kratos would exactly praise him for. "I couldn't sleep, I came up here 'cause I was sick of just laying around…"

"…I see." Kratos seemed to contemplate something for a moment, the gestured at Lloyd, "Why don't you come up with me, unless…" Suddenly, Kratos seemed almost hesitant, "you do not want to."

Lloyd, still sore from the afternoon's humiliation, was close to saying no, but, at the last minute, decided in favor of the idea. Besides, he would not mind the company. "Sure." He rose and followed Kratos up the small flight of stairs to the upper deck and sat down, his eyes again fixed on the stars.

"It is beautiful, isn't it?" asked Kratos, glancing up at the night sky.

"Yeah, I love the stars…" As soon as Lloyd said it, he realized how random it must have sounded to a stranger. Kratos, who was nearly a complete stranger, must have found Lloyd to be one of the weirdest people he had met already. What he must think now…

But Kratos seemed only curious, his eyes alighting on Lloyd, who felt like Kratos could see straight into him. He forced himself to stare at the stars so as not to react. "Why?" was the only this he asked.

Lloyd was surprised, it seemed like such a personal question coming from the hired mercenary; Lloyd had always just figured this was only another job for him. They were all just names and faces in his mind and nothing more. For him to actually want to know more was… strange. Then, of course, there was what Lloyd would actually tell him. It was very personal; the stars told all he could remember of his childhood, not something that he generally told people. In fact, not even Colette and Genis knew the purpose of his fascination.

Despite all of this, Lloyd felt compelled to tell Kratos everything. As if he _wanted_ to tell him. He was an impulsive person, and so he did what came naturally. "My father and I always used to look at the stars together."

He turned to look at Kratos, only to find the man busying himself with something or another, barely, it seemed, paying attention to Lloyd. "I did not think Dirk the kind to enjoy that type of pastime."

Lloyd chucked slightly, "Dad's a dwarf, they're all really down to earth, he's not interested in anything above the mountains, and that's only for the different kind of mines you can have in them. I don't think he's ever actually looked at the sky for anything other than the weather. I'm talking about my real dad."

"I did not think you remembered much of your biological parents. Mr. Sage seemed to think that you had no memories from that time."

Lloyd rolled his eyes, "Genis doesn't know everything. I can always remember something about them when I look at the stars. My dad used to tell me stories about the stars. I can still remember some of them, I used to tell them to the other kids, but the Church got really mad and made me stop…" Lloyd fixed his eyes back on the stars.

Kratos turned to look at Lloyd, but the boy did not see. "It sounds rather radical for them to react to a child's stories…"

Lloyd shrugged, "I guess, but that's what always happened. I was the weird kid: raised by a dwarf, abandoned by his parents, didn't go to Church…"

Kratos said nothing, and Lloyd wondered if he had offended the man, perhaps he was really devout or something…

"I see," he said softly, after a moment.

"That's the tip of Sylph's wing, that means that fall's coming soon," Lloyd pointed to a bright star in the east, "and that one is the tip of Origin's spear, you can always see it. It was always one of my favorites…"

So the night went on, Lloyd telling Kratos everything he knew about the heavens, the constellations that knew, the meanings they held. At first, the mercenary seemed hesitant to join the dual swordsman, but after a few minutes, he joined the boy. The two talked and watched the stars drift across the sky as the night progressed. Sometime around early morning, Lloyd drifted off, his head lolling.

Kratos shifted him, unwilling to move him, but not wanting him to sleep like that all night, and then watched him. For a long time he stared at the stars, Lloyd's breathing the only sound other then the rushing of water and the snapping of lines and canvas sails.

How had the boy remembered so much…?

…

After a few more days spent in such a manner, they reached their destination: Palmacosta. Lloyd could hardly sit still as they docked; he was torn between his love of the ocean and excitement at exploring a new city, one bigger than he had ever seen. He knew he couldn't stay with the ship, so he stepped off the boat concentrating on the excitement to come.

However, some of his companions were more focused on business. Kratos and Yuan yelled for him to help tie up the boat and to other chores, not that he minded much. Skah, on the other hand, was concerned with another practical matter.

"I'll find someone to bring the boat back to Izoold, all right Colette?"

Lloyd was mildy shocked; Skah actually used her real name! As far as he could remember, the man had only done that for him… he must be really desperate for Colette to forgive him. However, the other blonde merely pretended not to hear him, instead smiling to her friends and saying, "Come on, let's go! This city is so big, I want to look around."

Lloyd glanced back at Skah, mouthing an apology for Colette, but Skah just shrugged it off. As the man looked away towards the ocean, Lloyd thought he saw a bit of sadness and frustration, although Skah hid it well. He felt bad; Skah was trying to make up for things to Colette, but she didn't seem to want to forgive him. At least the Professor acknowledged him now that he was trying to make amends, but Colette just pretended he wasn't there… that had to hurt.

"Lloyd, are you coming?"

Colette and the others were waiting for him. "Yeah, I'm coming." With one quick glance at the blond man, he ran forward with his friends into the city.

However, they had hardly gotten out of the port before Colette tripped, crashing into a smaller girl dressed in pink frills. The girl let out something between a whine and a shriek as she was knocked over, dropping a glass bottle to the cobblestones where it shattered, splattering her and Colette in deep red potion.

"Ow! What did you do that for, you little—" she cut off when she looked down at herself, horrified at what she saw. "Look what you _did_!" she howled, glaring at Colette with obvious hatred. "You _destroyed_ the Palma Potion I just received, and you _ruined_ my dress!"

"I'm so sorry!" Colette pushed herself up and tried to help the other girl, but she only smacked her hand away.

A tall, blue haired man stepped out from the group behind the girl and stood protectively in front of her. "That was an _incredibly_ valuable potion you just squandered, _and _you soiled my beloved's gown! How do you plan to make up for this?"

The man turned to help the girl off the ground, but she snarled at him. "Don't touch me!" She picked herself up, brushing dust off her coat. "And stop calling me your "beloved". You're ridiculous and you disgust me."

Colette, thoroughly embarrassed, quickly tried to make amends. "I'll buy you another potion right away! And for your dress I know some things that should take the stain out; I spill things all the time—"

The man sneered at her. "A replacement potion? Do you honestly think that _that_ will appease my anger?"

Lloyd rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on, now you just sound like an idiot."

The strange couple's companions glanced nervously at one another, amused but afraid to show it. "What did you just say?" he demanded grandly, making himself look like more of a fool. "Do you know who we _are_?"

Lloyd raised an eyebrow. "And I should care because…?"

"Why you impudent little—"

"Shut up, idiot," the girl snapped at him before turning her eyes to Colette. "It would be _lovely_ if you would replace my potion and my dress," she simpered, but there was an edge to her voice and a hard glint in her eyes that made Lloyd shiver. "We'll be leaving the city tomorrow, so bring them to me by noon."

"Colette, you don't have to do anything for these people," Lloyd muttered to her, but she only shook her head.

"No, I ran into her, so I have to pay for it," she replied softly. "We'll replace your things."

…


	13. Predicaments

**And so starts the Palmacosta Saga. It takes far too long to be done with this city… On a random note, I have recently made a deviantart account; there's a link to it on my profile. Right now I have my original sketch of Skah posted on there if anyone's interested, and I'll put up more sketches like it for other characters later on… Anyway, read and review, please? I'd love to hear your opinions.**

…

"I ran into her, so I have to pay for it," Colette had said, but she didn't know how much she would pay. The blond girl that the Chosen had run into demanded that her dress be replaced along with her Palma Potion, refusing to let Colette try to take the stain out. They had found the shop where she bought the dress, which turned out to be outrageously expensive.

"Seriously, Colette, you don't need to bother with this," Lloyd said as Colette gaped at the price tag.

"Yes, I do." She was adamant, and yet the cause seemed hopeless, as the price of the dress equaled the total amount of gald they currently had.

The brunette sighed. "Let's leave it for now and go find the Palma Potion. Maybe if we bring them that they'll be satisfied, or you can convince her to let you wash the dress."

"That wouldn't do any good, the stain would be set in now," she replied sadly. "This is all my fault…"

"Maybe she should have watched where she was going," Genis scoffed. "No one can blame you when she walked straight into you! Besides, if we said you're the Chosen—"

"That doesn't matter! I ran into her, so I'm going to pay for it! I just need to find a way to get the gald…"

…

A few hours later, the group watched with amusement and wonder at the absurd sight before them: Colette had somehow managed to convince the cook at the Palmacosta Academy's cafeteria to let her work. Now she wore an apron over her usual clothing as she jotted down orders and carefully carried trays to the customers, her usual clumsiness mostly absent. They would have made more money had she allowed them to help, but she claimed that she had to get the money on her own, and got so upset when they tried to help her that they finally decided to just let her have her way.

"Two Yum Teas!" she chirped as she set the cups on the table. Between the rate the cook had agreed to pay her and the tips she received from the customers, she would earn almost the full price of the dress, not counting the Palma Potion, but that was if she stayed all day and through the evening. As for the potion, she agreed to dipping into the group's funds to buy it, but only on the condition that she would pay it back.

"I'd like one Sichuan Curry and a BBQ Combo, please!"

"Okay, one moment!"

Yuan sighed as he watched her. "We may as well go get the damn potion now…"

Lloyd nodded with the rest of the group. "Hey Colette, we're gonna go find the potion, okay? See you later!" The blonde waved cheerily as her friends departed.

They glanced over a few shops without seeing one that would sell the Palma Potion, but they soon found an item shop that looked promising.

"Oh, _please_! There's no way _anyone_ would sell those to you at a price that low!"

As soon as they entered they saw two Desians standing at the counter; a brunette girl argued with them as an older woman, probably her mother, attempted to quiet her.

"You should be thankful that we're even willing to spend money for goods from a run-down shack like this!"

"I don't need to hear that from a bunch of filthy Desians! I'm not going to sell one single gel to the likes of you!"

The older woman tugged on her arm. "Chocolat, don't—"

"But Mom, these are the same monsters that took Grandma away!" Lloyd could practically see flames in the girl's eyes as she glared at the Desians.

One of the Desians had taken his whip from his belt, holding it coiled in his hand. "You've got some nerve talking to us like that, little girl. You keep that up, and we can't guarantee what'll happen to you _or_ this city."

"Just try it! As long as Governor-General Dorr is around, we'll never submit!"

"You little—!" With a sneer, the soldier uncoiled his whip, pulling back as if to strike, but his partner stopped him.

"Don't! We'll exceed our quota. We need permission from Lord Magnius to go any further."

"Fine." The whip lashed out nonetheless, striking one of the shelves displaying the goods, and several boxes and items crashed to the floorboards.

Before they turned to go, the other Desian looked over his shoulder. "Depending on Lord Magnuis' mood, girl, you might or might not get to keep that pretty little head of yours." With that, the soldiers pushed past Lloyd and the others and left.

The woman immediately ran to clean the new mess. "I apologize for what happened. I'm sure you were startled."

"It's fine," Yuan replied, surprising the group by going to help her.

"Mom, I need to go to work now." The brunette girl had grabbed a few of the fallen items and placed them on the counter, and now was halfway out the door.

"Take care, Chocolat!" She sighed as she watched her daughter go. "I worry so much about her…"

"I'm sure she'll be fine, ma'am," Yuan replied as he helped her place more of the damaged items on the counter.

The woman laughed. "Oh, there's no need to be so polite. I'm Cacao. Welcome to Marble's. Please, relax and take a look around."

Lloyd picked up a bottle of Palma Potion and groaned softly at the price.

"Oh, this spilled all over!" Cacao picked up a fallen bottle; it had apparently been standing uncorked when it was hit, and while it hadn't broken, most of its contents now soaked the floor. Only about a third of the bottle remained. "And Palma Potion is so valuable too…"

"Actually, we're in the market for some Palma Potion right now, but we don't quite have the funds…," Yuan remarked smoothly. "Maybe we could take that one for a discount price?"

"Oh no, I couldn't possibly have you pay for that now. If you really want it, then it's yours, no charge."

"Are you sure? Thank you!"

"Oh, it's no trouble."

Raine glanced at the cobalt skeptically as Cacao retreated to the back room. "Yuan, we need a full bottle; how is that going to help us?"

"Simple, we just water it down and put a cork in the top. Those idiots won't know the difference until it's too late. As long as we don't tell Colette, we're fine."

"Well, I suppose that would take care of that problem…" The Professor put up no further argument.

…

After buying a few more much-needed supplies and booking rooms at the inn, they returned to the Academy to find Colette still busy in the cafeteria, now washing dishes during the lulls.

"Colette, we got the Palma Potion for free!" Genis exclaimed, showing his friend the newly-corked bottle. "Now we just need the dress."

"That's great! The cook said I'd get paid a little more if I helped with the dishes, and I've been getting a lot of tips, so we should have enough." She smiled. "I'm sorry to cause so much trouble."

"Stop apologizing," Lloyd replied out of habit.

"But the cook said we could have dinner for free since I've been helping so much… it's not busy now, so why don't you get some food?"

They ate a quick meal and departed as soon as the supper crowd appeared, not wanting to get in Colette's way as she still wouldn't hear of them helping. As they stepped out into the square, a small boy's voice quickly caught their attention.

"Governor-General Dorr! Dad was taken away to the ranch and hasn't come back, even though I've been a good boy!"

The child had clutched the robe of a tall, regal-looking man; although he didn't seem very old, a few deep wrinkles marked his face and some gray had crept into his hair. However, despite the signs of stress, he crouched down to meet the boy with a kind smile.

"Hang on just a little longer. I promised, remember? I'll save everyone who's been taken away to the ranch."

"B-but… I'm lonely…"

Lloyd could relate to the boy only too well; he could barely remember being smaller than that, asking Dirk if his father was going to come find him…

"Don't worry," said a small girl at the man's side. "Father is a friend to everyone in the city. He'll make sure your father comes back safe and sound."

"R-really?" the boy sniffed, on the verge of tears.

"Yes," the man replied, smiling. "They were all taken away because they fought back against the Desians. I swear I'll rescue them."

The boy held back his tears, gaining hope from the man. "…Okay. I'll wait for Dad to come back."

"That's a good boy." He ruffled the boy's hair before standing. "Let's go, Kilia."

"Yes, Father." She gave the boy one more smile before following the man.

"Who was that?" Lloyd asked aloud as he watched the pair leave.

An elderly man nearby seemed to have heard, because he turned around. "That's Governor-General Dorr. He's been recruiting soldiers and resisting the Desians since he took his job. He's a wonderful man."

"After losing his wife to an illness, he's raised his daughter Kilia all by himself," a woman added from nearby, seemingly eager to inform the travelers of the leader's greatness.

"As long as Governor-General Dorr is here," the old man continued, "we won't submit to the Desians. Even if we're carried off to the ranch, Dorr will come and save us. We believe in him."

"How are these people all so brave?" Genis wondered, almost in awe.

Lloyd understood; the people in this city all had the strength to oppose the Desians rather than give in to them like Iselia. "Yeah… that Dorr person must be a great leader."

…

Palmacosta was truly a beautiful city; its streets—or at least the ones that the tourists were _supposed_ to see—were clean and the air was fresh and salty. It would still be hours before Colette was finished with her waitressing job, and Lloyd had once again found himself bored. As they sat around the inn room, he had loudly expressed his feelings and had somehow managed to convince Kratos to come along on a tour of the shipping docks.

It was not long into the tour before all of the talk they heard was of a large steam-ship that was preparing to take sail later that day. Even Kratos seemed mildly interested, and it was decided that they would try to find the spectacle. Unfortunately, upon their arrival as said spot, they found two familiar faces.

"—mean, they call this the height of technology? It's like a museum!"

"Yeah, it's almost sad…"

"Soph-Rin!" Lloyd called out almost instinctually; it wasn't in his nature to distrust someone after spending the time they had joking around, and he yelled her name before he had really remembered all that had happened the last time he saw her.

"Well, well, well, Sheena, look who it is. I guess you couldn't stay away from me, hmm?"

"What are you doing here?" he retorted quickly.

Rin shrugged, pushing amethyst hair behind her ear. "Looking for you guys, really. What happened to Skah and Colette and the Professor?"

"They didn't want to come out." Even though he knew he shouldn't, he wanted to talk; maybe if they could find out what they wanted, things could be resolved. He felt comfortable around Rin anyway; a short conversation wouldn't hurt. He wasn't idiotic enough to give away Colette's location in the process.

"Is that so? I'd have thought Raine would want to see this 'wonderful piece of technology'." Rin snickered, finding something amusing in the idea.

"She doesn't like the water so much."

The younger woman glared at Rin, then moved her gaze to Lloyd. "Tell us where the Chosen is!" she demanded angrily, as hostile as the last time they had met.

Lloyd ignored the order, keeping his eyes on the elder woman. "Hey Rin, you haven't introduced us to your friend."

"Since when have you called me 'Rin', Lloyd?" She smirked coyly at him, eyes sparkling in mirth.

"Well, she called you that before, and Yuan kind of let it slip afterwards."

"Rin, stop! We need to—"

"Now's not exactly the best time," she snapped back at her partner. Turning to Lloyd again, she smiled. "Anyway, we'd better get going, Lloydie, Kratos, see you around." With that, she grabbed her companion's arm and pulled them away into the crowds, quickly disappearing from sight.

Before Lloyd could do anything but watch them run off, Kratos grabbed his shoulder, turning the teen; his burgundy eyes were cold. "What were you thinking, speaking to them? They are the enemy, and you almost gave them the information they would need. Now we must be even more careful while we're here."

"Sorry, I just kinda _did_. I mean, Rin traveled with us and everything, and I—"

"Lloyd, they are _assassins_. They are attempting to kill the Chosen, in case you have forgotten. You—"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm a naïve idiot, I'm going to get myself killed if I keep acting like this, you've told me before." Lloyd glared up at the man, feeling his body temperature rise with his anger. "I get it, okay? It's not like I want Colette hurt."

Kratos' eyes hardened, his glare more intense than Lloyd had seen it yet. "The next time we see them, you can't just stay and chat. They are a threat to the Regeneration, and therefore must be eradicated."

"You mean you want me to try and kill them?"

"They have tried the same for you. We can't afford to have mercy."

"I'm sorry, I can't do that. I'm not made of stone like you." Lloyd stormed back toward the inn, furious. What was wrong with Kratos? One minute he acted like he cared, then he immediately switched to this heartless bastard that didn't care about anything but his job. He couldn't figure it out, and right now, he didn't want to. He grimaced at the thought of sharing a room with him tonight… he'd get Skah to switch. Kratos could stay with Yuan. Lloyd was sick of dealing with him.

…

"Oh, so you actually came?" The blue-haired man stood in front of the others, posturing ridiculously. "It looks like you're good little boys and girls after all. Just make sure you learn your lesson and don't trouble my beloved again!"

"Shut up, idiot!" the blonde snapped at him, pushing him aside. "Do you have my things?" she asked in a sickly-sweet voice, although it didn't look like she really needed the dress; she was already wearing a different one that seemed at least as expensive as the last.

"Yes, here they are!" Colette handed her the things with a smile. "I'm sorry about all this."

"Hmph, you should be, putting us through all this trouble." Clutching her things, she turned away.

"Bastards," Lloyd muttered as they started to leave, already having forgotten them and talking amongst themselves.

"I have to say, that Governor-General Dorr sure was trusting," the other woman in the group said. "It's hard to believe he just gave us his family treasure like that."

Another teen looked questioningly at the two who seemed to be leaders. "What are we going to do with that, anyway?"

"You're an idiot," the girl snapped. "We have no use for it. We're just going to sell it to that geezer on Hakonesia Peak who collects old junk. Now let's go, I'm tired of this city."

"You heard her, go!"

Colette turned to the rest of them. "I'm sorry for getting us into trouble."

Lloyd sighed. "You're not the one that caused the problems. Those guys piss me off."

"What now?" Skah asked idly, glancing around.

"Perhaps we should find this Governor-General Dorr," Raine replied. "He could have access to information on the journey."

"Good idea, Professor!" Colette chirped. "That could make finding the seals so much easier!"

So it was that they found themselves entering the huge building standing at the square. Dorr stood behind a long table with his daughter in his arms, seemingly in conversation with a younger man with dark blue hair. However, when he saw them enter, he set the girl down and turned to them, arms spread in welcome. "Greetings, travelers! We welcome travelers, as per the teachings of Martel. May the blessing of Martel be upon those who journey."

"Thank you," Colette replied. "May Martel's blessings be upon you as well."

"May I ask from where you have come? Are you on a pilgrimage?"

Lloyd nodded, standing next to Colette. "We came from Iselia. We're on the journey of world regeneration." He felt somehow small in this room, insignificant compared to the people before him and the grandeur surrounding, but saying that made up for it all. He might not be anything but a kid from Iselia, but their purpose was something that no one could look down upon.

However, Dorr's brow furrowed, and he scrutinized them closely. "World regeneration…?"

"Of course," Genis replied in a smart-aleck manner. "Colette is the Chosen of Mana." He gestured at Colette, who blushed slightly, still uncomfortable with her title after a lifetime of hearing it.

"You're saying that you're the Chosen?" Dorr asked, still confused about something. Lloyd didn't understand; this wasn't a normal reaction. Something was wrong…

"Ah, yes, it seems I am." Colette giggled in embarrassment; couldn't she have sounded more sure? Lloyd's sense of foreboding grew.

"Governor-General…" The man at his side glanced at him worriedly—no, that wasn't it, it was more like… a warning or something…

Suddenly, the man's face contorted in righteous anger. "The Chosen was here just moments ago! How dare you defile that name! These despicable criminals must be arrested and turned over to the church at once!"

"W-what?" Colette gasped.

Lloyd heard footsteps and armor clanking together; he turned to see soldiers quickly surrounding them.

This wasn't good.


	14. Heated Conversations

**How is it that when I have so much time on my hands I can't be productive at all? *sighs* Oh well. Here's the next chapter. The end of it was written at about three in the morning, and my usual beta is out of town and doesn't have internet reception (damn cabin…) and my secondary beta is already asleep, so… forgive me if there are any major errors.**

…

Surrounded.

Dorr stood behind the table in front of him, the blue-haired man at his side with a hand on his sword hilt. The young daughter peeked over the table, looking frightened.

Colette stood at his side with Genis close by; Skah stood just behind him, ahead of the other adults.

Soldiers were on all sides, holding spears and swords. Lloyd's own hands had automatically reached for his swords; he heard Kratos loosen his blade in its sheath. Skah too tensed, ready for a fight.

"Why don't we discuss this?" Raine said, always the voice of reason. "There has obviously been a misunderstanding—"

"There has been no misunderstanding. Guards!"

"Lloyd…" Colette murmured uneasily. His grip on his swords tightened. The soldiers moved closer.

Unexpectedly, causing the guards around them to raise their weapons, Skah stepped forward. "Listen, numbskulls, I don't know what you're talking about, but we've got the real Chosen right here."

His bold statement was met with sneers. "What makes you think we'll believe that, you scoundrels?"

"How about this?" The man reached out and shoved Colette forward; as expected, she stumbled, and reflexively drew her wings for stability. The pink glow lit all their faces.

"What… how…" the two men before them gasped in surprise, beholding the shining appendages.

Kilia's eyes were wide in awe. "Wow, Father! She has wings, just like an angel! They're beautiful!"

The blue-haired man beside Dorr gestured to the soldiers. "Lower your weapons! This girl is without a doubt the Chosen of Mana." He knelt before her, his head bowed. "Forgive us our insolence, Chosen One."

"Indeed, there is no mistaking the angel wings on your back," Dorr conceded, bowing his head in respect.

Colette was flustered at the sudden shows of reverence. "Ah, um, please, it's okay. Um, um… it's all right, really." The words tumbled clumsily from her mouth. "Everyone tells me I'm not very Chosen-like at all."

"Allow me to introduce Neil, my second-in-command, and my daughter Kilia," Dorr said after a moment as his daughter stepped out to get a closer look at Colette's wings.

"Governor-General, if this is the real Chosen, then…"

Dorr's eyes widened. "Then… the Chosen we gave the Book of Regeneration to was an imposter?"

Lloyd frowned. "Wait a minute. You said something about the Chosen coming here already. What's the Book of Regeneration? What's going on?"

"The Book of Regeneration is a record of Spiritua's journey. It is the only document containing a detailed account of the world regeneration, and it is a precious heirloom passed down through the generations of Governor-Generals of Palmacosta." Neil spoke in a monotone, as if he was in mild shock, simply reciting known facts.

"That's it!" Genis exclaimed. "With that, we won't have any trouble finding the seals!"

Raine eyed the Governor-General in distaste. "And you say you handed over this invaluable book to a random person claiming to be 'the Chosen'? Unbelievable."

Something clicked in Lloyd's head. "It must be those guys that were bothering us earlier!" he exclaimed softly; only Colette seemed to hear him as the conversation continued around him.

Neil's face flushed. "We had received information that the Chosen's group was headed this way, so we naturally believed them…"

"I can't believe this," Skah snapped, annoyed at the whole ordeal.

Genis scowled. "Are you people stupid or something? Now what are we supposed to do?"

"We are terribly sorry…" Neil muttered, his face flushing a deeper crimson.

"Mana, can't you people do anything right?" Skah's eyes were narrowed; anger radiated from him. His hand hadn't left the hilt of his sword.

Genis seemed in complete agreement with the blond man. "Do you use your eyes at all, or are they just there for decoration?"

"Genis," Raine snapped, sounding dangerous. "That's enough."

Lloyd turned to Dorr. "You don't happen to remember the contents of that whatever-it's-called book, do you?"

"I'm afraid not… it is, after all, written in the language of the angels, so only members of the Church can read it."

"Oh, I know!" Colette exclaimed. "Let's try asking at the Church. Maybe the priests know something."

Raine nodded. "That's a good idea. Let's give it a try. Any objections?"

She heard none, and as they turned to leave the building, Neil bowed his head once more. "You have my deepest apologies…" Colette murmured that it was fine before leaving. Dorr stood silently at the back of the room, not uttering a word.

…

"You mean you never even bothered to read it?" Skah demanded, outraged, red eyes flashing.

They had made their way to the church on the other side of the square. Lloyd felt uneasy inside; he hadn't felt any different inside the Martel Temple helping Colette to the Oracle, nor had he at all enjoyed any kind of sermon or lecture from the priests at Iselia. There was something about it all that unnerved him, and he found himself staring up at the statues and stained glass trying to understand it as Colette found someone to ask about the Book.

Lloyd remained lost in thought as she spoke to a pastor that seemed vaguely familiar… until Skah's voice broke into his stupor; he turned to stare in shock at the scene.

"It was not exactly Church property. There were some of our order that read through it, but its contents were not documented," Pastor Marche muttered, offended at Skah's outburst. "Have you talked to Governor-General Dorr? I am sure he would not be opposed to giving it to you…"

"Yeah, except he already gave it to some fake Chosen!" Genis exclaimed in irritation.

"Imposters?" The pastor was horrified. "That's terrible! How could anyone think to impersonate the Chosen?" After collecting himself, he sighed. "Regretfully I cannot be of help. The Book of Regeneration was the only record of Spiritua's footsteps. I'm sorry."

"Well isn't this great," Skah growled after they left the church. "We finally come across something that might help, and a bunch of damn _posers_ get it before us!"

"What are we going to do now?" Colette asked, still ignoring the man. "Should we just keep trying to find the seals using Remiel's words as clues?"

Raine frowned slightly as she thought. "We would probably be better off getting hold of the Book of Regeneration. After all, everything would be documented already for us to examine…"

"Raine, you care more about looking at that book than you do about finding the seals," Genis muttered, but fortunately his sister didn't hear him.

"So now we have to chase after those imposters…" Lloyd murmured. "Damn fakes, causing all these problems."

"How are we going to find them?" Colette asked, dismayed.

Lloyd frowned as he tried to remember the conversation he had overheard. "… A peak. Some kind of peak, Kako-something-or-other. They were going to sell it."

"Off to Hakonesia Peak then," Raine sighed.

Skah grinned viciously. "Mana, I can't wait 'til we catch up with them. I'm going to destroy their sorry asses."

"The point of this isn't to hurt them, it's to get the Book of Regeneration," Colette snapped. Lloyd did a double-take; he had never heard her use that tone before. Everyone else was equally stunned.

"But they're pretending to be us—_you_—and they stole the freaking book! Not to mention they made us get all that crap for them."

"We don't have to think about what they did. I'm sure they had a reason for it. We just need to get the Book back."

Skah stared at her a moment in confusion, then shook his head. "…No matter how hard I try, I don't understand you."

The others were as surprised as Skah at Colette's arguments, but the blonde merely ignored it and turned to her teacher. "So Professor, now we have to go to Hakonesia Peak, right?"

Raine quickly shook off her shock and regained her usual serenity before replying. "Well, there is no sense in leaving tonight; we wouldn't make any progress before dusk. We'll leave in the morning."

…

"There's nothing to _do_…" Lloyd complained as he lay back in his chair. The others seemed equally uninterested; Colette mindlessly braided and unbraided her hair, Genis sat doodling on the homework that Raine had assigned him. Skah sat absentmindedly picking at his fingernails and trimming them with a small knife. Yuan continuously dealt cards on the table in front of him to play solitaire, shuffling and dealing again when he lost, smiling a little at the antics of his younger companions. Of them all only Kratos and Raine seemed content, as both sat at opposite ends of the room, entertained by their books.

"You could read, Lloyd," the silver-haired woman replied in the same tone she used in her lectures.

"Or not," he replied automatically, staring at the ceiling with glazed eyes. "Anyone else have any ideas?"

Yuan rolled his eyes without looking up at the boy; honestly, could the child amuse himself at all? Gathering his cards, he quickly shuffled and dealt another game, listening silently to the lazy conversation.

"How about charades?" Genis asked listlessly.

Skah grimaced. "How about no."

Colette glanced out the window at the setting sun. "Evening service will start soon. Why don't we go? I mean, Palmacosta has a beautiful church, and this is where Spiritua gave her first sermon."

"What a wonderful idea, Colette." Raine closed her book and slipped it into her bag. "Shall we go?"

Genis automatically stood when his sister and Colette did, but no one else responded.

"Well?" Raine looked impatient. "Are any of you coming?"

Skah simply leaned his chair back on two legs as Lloyd shrugged awkwardly. Kratos completely ignored the conversation.

"I think that means no one else is going," Yuan stated mildly as he quickly moved a few cards, flipping over the top card of the newly revealed stack.

"And why not?" The teacher tapped her foot in irritation, awaiting an answer.

Once more, none came.

Seeing that a general question would do no good, she focused her assault. "Lloyd, why aren't you coming?"

The boy's face flushed as three sets of probing blue eyes locked on him, waiting for his answer. Yuan almost felt sorry for him. "I… well, I…"

Then Colette spoke. "Lloyd, why won't you come to church?" There was a note of sadness in her voice, of disappointment. The girl honestly couldn't understand, and was worried for her friend.

"Colette, you know I never really went before!" Lloyd protested, but her gaze remained locked on him.

"I thought you said that was because you had things to do at home. You said you didn't have time."

"W-well, yeah, I didn't have time…" Lloyd's face blushed even brighter as he was caught with his half-truth.

"So why can't you go now?"

"I-I don't think I'd really fit in… I mean, I've never really been to church, I wouldn't know what's going on."

"That's okay, Lloyd. You'd fit in fine." Colette's smile displayed her assurance. "Martel accepts everyone."

"No, I don't think so," he replied softly.

The room was silent for a moment. Lloyd's Iselian friends were stunned. Lloyd had never been devout, obviously, but it seemed he had never defied their faith… Interesting. Yuan's eyes left his cards; he sat back to watch the scene unfold before him.

"What do you mean, Lloyd?" Colette's voice was soft, low, hurt.

"I've never exactly been accepted there, Colette." His russet eyes were locked on the table as he spoke. "The priests always wanted me to come, but once they had me there, they acted like they wished I had stayed away. Besides, I… I've never been comfortable around all that. It just doesn't feel right to me."

The Chosen's eyes filled; she turned away to stare out the window. "Martel would want you to come, to see the light."

Lloyd finally looked up; his eyes were sad, but his face was set. "I'm not going, Colette."

Kratos glanced over at the teen, a smile small of approval on his lips, before turning back to his book. Unfortunately, the Professor had seen him.

"Is something amusing, Kratos?" she asked icily.

"Nothing at all," he replied coolly.

Her eyes narrowed. "And may I ask why you aren't coming to the evening service with us?"

"I choose not to. Do you need to know any more than that?"

"An explanation would be appreciated."

"I do not follow your faith. Is that explanation enough?"

Colette's eyes widened. "You don't believe in Martel?"

"No, Chosen, I do not."

"And why, may I ask, would you volunteer to guard her on this journey if you do not believe in it?"

Kratos snapped his book shut. His eyes looked black in the shadows that covered him. "First of all, Miss Sage, I did not volunteer. I am a mercenary, and I accepted a job." Yuan knew the look on the man's face well; it meant he was swiftly losing patience. "Secondly, I believe in mana, and I believe the world needs it. This ritual restores the mana, therefore it follows that I would want it to succeed."

Raine, apparently fed up with the mercenary, turned on the watching half-elf. "What about you, Yuan? Do you worship Martel?" The conversation had long since turned into an attack.

"Not exactly," he said aloud before muttering, "I've done a lot more than worship her." The only reaction to the remark was Kratos' quiet chuckle; the exchange was audible only to the two Seraphim.

Before Raine could manage a reply to the cobalt, Skah, who had remained silent through the proceedings, glanced out the window. "You had better get going if you actually want to get to this service of yours."

"So I take it you won't join us either."

"It's kind of a waste of time to go, isn't it? I mean, if I want to pray, I can do it on my own time. I'm pretty sure prayers aren't just accepted at the assigned hours."

Raine sighed in frustration, then turned on her heel and marched toward the doors. "Come on, we don't want to be late." Colette and Genis obediently followed her, sparing only a second for a backward glance.

…

Lloyd lay staring at the ceiling, the only light in the room coming from the waning moon that shone through the small window. Try as he did, he couldn't sleep. He had come up while Colette, Genis, and the Professor were still at church so he wouldn't have to face them when they returned; that was hours ago and his friends were long since asleep, and yet here he lay.

He was torn between feeling guilty and justified. He had never gone to church, but he had never told his friends the real reason like that. He had always kept that to himself, knowing that it would hurt them, hurt Colette more than anyone. But the Church always seemed wrong. He couldn't explain it.

Sure, most of the Scripture that Colette quoted had good morals and all—a lot of it matched the Dwarven Vows that Dad had drilled into his brain—but once they started talking about angels and the Goddess, Lloyd felt like it didn't click.

He wasn't going to be able to sleep, not now, anyway. He pushed himself up out of bed and reached over to light his candle just as Kratos opened the door and stepped in.

"Shouldn't you be asleep?"

"Do you have to sound so patronizing?" Kratos' dangerous look was enough to silence Lloyd's taunting. "I couldn't sleep." Lloyd grabbed his signature red jacket, pulling it on over his head. "Now I just have to figure out something else to do."

Kratos merely looked at him for a moment, then reached for the door handle again. "Get your swords."

"W-what?"

"I said, get your swords. We're going to train."

Lloyd stared at him incredulously, but it was obvious the man wasn't joking—actually, the teen doubted Kratos was capable of it—and scrambled out of bed, pulling on his suspenders and belts before grabbing his swords on the way out the door.

…

Pain. Serious pain.

Okay, maybe not _mortally wounded_ serious, but how did he always end up so sore after sparring with Kratos? It just wasn't natural. It wasn't even that he got _hit_; just trying to dodge and block blows left his arms aching and everything else just as sore.

"Why do you fight with two swords? You only make things more difficult for yourself."

Their brief, intense bout of training had ended a while ago. Lloyd sat on the steps of the inn, catching his breath, and Kratos had sat beside him. No one else was around; after all, it was the middle of the night. Lloyd leaned back to gaze up at the stars visible between the buildings, seeing again snatches of his childhood, bits and pieces of memories that eluded him.

"Well, having two swords means I'm twice as strong, right? I can hit twice as much."

Kratos raised an eyebrow. "Is that the only logic behind your decision?"

"Pretty much."

"With two swords, you have little defense, no easy way to deflect attacks."

"So I just have to hit them enough that they can't attack!" Lloyd grinned, knowing his non-logic would annoy the older man, who simply sighed in mild irritation. "Anyway, I just figured that with two swords I'd be able to do more damage, so I could protect everyone better."

"Was that your sole aim?" Kratos' expression was unreadable, made even more difficult by the fact that half his face was invisible behind his auburn hair.

"Yeah, it was."

The mercenary was silent for a moment, seemingly contemplating something. Lloyd looked back at the stars while he waited for his companion to speak.

"Don't forget that determination," he said finally. "You have a long ways yet to go."

Lloyd grimaced. "Don't remind me. And I've got a lot of training with you left on the way, don't I?"

A small smile briefly crossed Kratos' lips. "Yes, I suppose you do."


	15. Meet Magnius

***takes deep breath* Yes, I think I'm back to writing Phenomenon. I'm very, very sorry that it ever stopped, but frankly, I got lazy, then I had a TON of homework, then I just procrastinated and made excuses as to why I wasn't writing. But I'm going to try this again, and hopefully it'll keep going this time. I have a couple friends who will help keep my morale up, by which I mean will shoot me if I stop writing again, so… look for updates every week or so, hopefully. On with the story!**

…

"Out of the way, filthy humans! Lord Magnius approaches!"

_Hakonesia Peak loomed before them; a thin path snaked up the mountain, a path that connected to theirs. The path that would take them farther on the Journey of Regeneration._

Huge metal boots thundered against the cobblestones, echoing over the silent crowd. Their owner passed through the shadow of the gallows.

"_The Spiritua Statue? That's insane! Just give us a look at the book already, old man."_

Whispers ran through the small groups of onlookers, but one rang out louder than the others. "It's Magnius, from the eastern ranch…"

"That's _Lord_ Magnius, vermin!"

"_The Desians are headed for Palmacosta! The leader of the nearby human ranch, Magnius, is with them. If I were you, I'd stay here for a while, until it's over."_

There was a sickening crack, and the man who had whispered was tossed from the Desian's meaty hand and onto the cobblestones beneath him. His head was bent back at a grotesque angle. He wasn't moving. Without a second glance, Magnius continued towards the gallows, reaching the platform and smiling cruelly, manically, at the gathered townspeople.

A Desian guard, a mage, from the looks of it, raised his staff and called out, "This human has defied the wishes of the great Lord Magnius and has refused to provide us with supplies."

Another, on the other side of the gallows, continued. "Therefore, while the designated death count has been exceeded, Lord Magnius has given orders to carry out her public execution!"

Even from across the square, Lloyd could see that Cacao's eyes were wide in fear and shock. "Dammit, shouldn't the militia be doing something?" he demanded, looking to his friends for an answer. However, the answer came from a man standing nearby.

"Most of them are out doing training exercises, there's no one here to stop them…"

"The scumbags must have waited for an opportunity like this…" Genis looked horrified.

"Mom!"

Chocolat ran past, not noticing them, across the square toward the gallows where her mother stood, the noose already around her neck.

"Stop right there, girl!" The Desian held his staff out threateningly. "If you interfere with the execution, we'll make you suffer in ways that will leave you begging for death!"

"You think Governor-General Dorr will let you get away with this?"

"Dorr? As if he could do anything. Don't get your hopes up, pathetic human," the Desian's laugh mocked her. From the gallows, Magnius' laughter joined his, until a small stone hit the wooden beam beside the Desian leader.

The man's eyes narrowed, the knotted scar across one eye distorting the glare, as he focused on a small boy in the middle of the square. A second rock was clutched in the child's hand.

"You disgusting little vermin!"

With one jump, Magnius cleared over half the distance between the boy and the gallows; the clang of his boots hitting stone thundered across the square. The child trembled as he approached, too scared to run. And none of the townspeople moved.

The people were the same as those in Iselia… despite their militia, despite how they said they'd fight the Desians, no one would step up, no one would help the child… they were just like the villagers at home; no one would fight, even though a kid was in danger…

Lloyd wouldn't stand for it.

"Stop!" Sending off a Demon Fang at the Desian, he ran forward into the square. The attack gave Magnius pause enough for the child to escape, but now the Desian's eyes locked on Lloyd.

"Lloyd, wait!" his teacher's voice called from behind him as she caught up. "Don't turn this city into the next Iselia."

"It's not the same! They don't have a non-aggression treaty! How can we go on a quest to save the world when we can't help the people standing right in front of us?"

Colette's voice rang out. "Lloyd's right! I won't just stand here and let this happen! We have to help Cacao and the rest of the city!"

Magnius wasn't the only Desian focused on Lloyd. "Lord Magnius, that boy is wanted criminal number 0074!"

Magnius' eyes widened slightly. "Lloyd Irving… Ha! The boy with the exsphere! This is just perfect! After I kill you and take your exsphere, I'll become the leader of the Five Grand Cardinals!"

One of the mages behind Magnius threw a fireball toward Lloyd, but using the Force Field technique that Kratos taught him, it glanced off him and burned itself out on the cobblestones, leaving him unharmed.

Magnius' eyes were wide in rage. "Dammit, you worthless idiots! Enough of this, I'll take care of this worthless woman first!" He signaled to the Desian still at the gallows, who moved to release the trapdoor beneath Cacao's feet.

"No! I won't let you hurt Cacao, or anyone else!" Colette's chakram screamed through the air, neatly cutting the rope before the Desians could move.

As the chakram sailed back, nicking the arm of a Desian on the way, Skah ran forward. One Desian fell after a quick stab before the blade sliced across Magnius' shirt. "Listen to the Chosen," he snarled.

Whispers ran through the crowd again. "The Chosen? That girl is the Chosen? The Chosen herself has come to save us!"

Raine still stood back by Lloyd. "Do you all realize what you're doing? This city could be attacked, just like Iselia!"

"I know," he replied quietly, only to his teacher, although he didn't meet her eyes. "But I know exactly what I'm doing this time." His volume grew, his voice ringing steady through the square. "I won't repeat the same mistake again. I'll destroy them all, the entire ranch!"

"Lloyd, that's insanity." It sounded like the Professor's teaching voice, but underneath was a more unsteady tone.

"They're only after Colette and me. And besides, we have the Chosen on our side, the Chosen who will regenerate the world! Right, Colette?"

Colette's blue eyes, at first unsure, turned harder, more determined. "Yeah! I'll fight for everyone's sake!"

Lloyd could tell that their words were giving the citizens hope as he heard them; their whispers, at first so frightened, were close to cheers now.

"Enough of this crap!" Magnius' rough voice cut through the growing commotion as the livid commander turned to his soldiers. "Get rid of these vermin!" His eyes fixed on Lloyd. "And take the exsphere that the child stole. Destroy the criminal!" And then the massive Desian was gone in a ripple of mana.

Before the soldiers could get a word out, Skah was upon them, blade slashing, reflecting sliver and red. Kratos was the next in battle as Lloyd circled behind. Yuan pushed Colette back, out of the fray, as he and Genis began to cast. Lloyd heard a faint whistle, then saw a flash of metal leaving Colette's hand.

"Skah, look out!"

The blonde ducked out of the way just in time, the chakram whizzing over his shoulder before cutting deep across the back of a Desian mage.

They made quick work of the Desians; Magnius had brought only mages with him, not expecting to be attacked at close range; the barrage of attacks that Skah, Lloyd, and Kratos threw at them interrupted their spells and drained their energy. By the time Yuan's final lightning spell hit, the Desians could hardly stand as it was; as the electricity raced through them, they fell to the ground, not stirring.

…

"Thank you so much for saving my mom!"

Chocolat's thanks had streamed out in a never-ending rush since the mages had fell; Cacao's gratitude had been quieter, but more useful, as they now sat in the room above their shop, with Cacao serving them a meal that smelled better than anything Lloyd had eaten since he left home.

"Thank you so much! I don't know what I would have done if they had murdered my mom too…"

"What do you mean, 'too'?" Genis asked, before going red, looking horrified. "I-I mean, I'm sorry if I'm prying…"

Cacao set a steaming plate on the table in front of Genis. "…my husband volunteered in Governor-General Dorr's army, and he was… he was killed in a battle against the Desians years ago. And my mother was taken to the ranch."

Chocolat nodded sadly. "Grandma started up the shop, it was originally hers. That's why we have to keep it, we have to protect it for her sake, for when she comes back."

Cacao looked at her daughter sadly, although Chocolat was facing away. The mother's eyes were hopeless, but she only turned away. "…Chocolat, don't you need to get to work soon?"

The girl sprang out of her seat, exclaiming something, but Lloyd didn't catch it; he was distracted. Genis' face was pale, and although he moved the vegetables and bits of fish around on his plate, he didn't take a bite. He looked clammy.

Cacao jumped to her feet as well when a pounding rang out from the floor below them. "Oh, who's down there? I hope—" She cut off, nervously looking out the window to the shop door beneath, then visibly calmed. "It's someone from the militia. Please wait up here, I'll go see what it is. Please, enjoy your food."

Lloyd dug in as the woman left the room, noticing that Genis still wasn't eating. Raine seemed to be worried about him too, but she kept silent.

Cacao reappeared in the doorway, the soldier behind her. "He asked for you," she explained.

"Chosen of Mana, all of you, Governor-General Dorr heard what you did. He requests that you meet with him as soon as possible."

"Look, if he has a problem with what we did, you can tell him to stick it—"

"No," the messenger cut Skah off, "not at all. He commends your deeds. He wishes to speak to you all about more matters concerning battle against the Desians."

"…then we'd better go see him." Lloyd stood up, looking around at the others. "Come on, let's go."

…

Once outside, Lloyd fell back to talk to Genis. "What's up?"

"What do you mean?" The boy still didn't seem well; he trembled slightly as he walked.

"You okay? I mean, you weren't eating anything, and it's not like you to pass up good food."

"…I realized something…"

"Realized what, that you don't like seafood?"

"Lloyd, be serious!" The sound of the half-elf's voice was what really caught Lloyd's attention; Genis sounded like he was going to be sick.

"What is it?"

"Cacao said her mother was taken to the Human Ranch, and Chocolat said that her grandma founded their shop…"

"…and?" Lloyd wasn't sure what would come next, but his stomach felt empty, like his insides had dropped out.

"…and the shop's name is Marble's."


End file.
